Sword Art Online REBIRTH
by MrSilverBlue
Summary: Y/N, nicknamed P/N is among the 10,000 players who had been trapped on the game of death called Sword Art Online. Can P/N survive 'til the end if the scariest, and the most terrifying thing for him, is 'death' itself?
1. Chapter 01 - Link Start

Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara.

\--

«Nov 5, 2022 - 9:00 PM»

Darkness covers the night sky showing that the day is finally almost over, peaceful silence can be heared outside as I walk my way to get home..

..My name is F/N L/N, a 15 year old middle schooler. And just as I said, I'm currently walking my way to finally head home after a very, very tiring day.

I lined up all day in a Game Center near our place in order to get a copy of a 'certain' game. It is crazy popular right now and I heard that only 10,000 copies has been produced for the very first launch.

I think luck was finally on my side this time because given how crazy the situation in the Game Center earlier, I somehow managed to get one copy for myself... a copy of the very first VRMMORPG ever created: The «Sword Art Online» or also known as «SAO».

It's already 9 in evening and as soon as I reached our home, I quickly headed to the shower to finally take a relaxing bath. I noticed that Dad wasn't home yet so I just decided to eat dinner alone.

After finishing my meal, I headed to my room upstairs and I turned my computer on. While my PC is booting up, I decided to take a quick look at the copy of «SAO» that I got earlier, praising myself for this not-so-little accomplishment.

«SAO» runs on a hardware called «NerveGear», a machine that is capable of rendering a complete world of «Virtual Reality», while the actual act of linking to that virtual world is called «FullDive».

NerveGear is not just a device solely for gaming. My father actually bought a NerveGear before for his job purposes, and he said that he didn't need it already so I just asked him if he can lend it to me. So as of now, all my preparations in order to play SAO was almost complete.

As my computer finished booting up, I noticed that I have 56 unread messages and it's all from our in-game-guild's group chat. It's a Guild from an online multiplayer FPS game on PC that I'm currently hooked on: The «Counter Mercenaries» or «CTM».

As a side note, CTM is also owned by the company behind the NerveGear and SAO, Argus.

Our guild only consists of of six members, all of us are males. Small numbers but we are all experienced and you can definitely call a 'pro' when it comes to this game. Our leader «Hiro», named our guild with a very cliche name of «AzureSoldiers».

I have yet to meet any one of them in the real world but still, I consider every one of them as my good friends, especially the guy named «Hiro».

We've been friends online for almost 3 years now and he's also the one who introduced me to CTM to help me deal my 'personal problems' before.

So if there is something that you can call an 'online best friend', I can confidently say Hiro as one.

I opened our group chat and I noticed that all five of them are online right now.

[Jasper: "Hiro did you managed to get a copy?"

[Hiro: "Yeah somehow, I just got home now"

[Lowein-sama: "Oi hiro r you srious? its already 9 in d evning.."

[Jasper: "Hahaha"

[Hiro: "Lucky for you guys, you didn't have to go through all this"

[Hayamaster: "Darn right, Im still grateful that Argus reserved a full copy for beta testers.."

[TheHulk: "Hey any news on P/N? Did he got one?"

[Lowein-sama: "I dun know, hes not ol yet"

That was me, my 'in game name' «P/N». I quickly tapped some keys on my keyboard to announce myself.

[P/N: "I'm here.."

[TheHulk: "Yo P/N, did you to got a copy? SAO?"

[P/N: "Yeah, I'm holding it right now"

[Hayamaster: "Pretty excited huh hahha"

[Hiro: "Of course we are, unlike the four of you, P/N and I have yet to experienced any of it"

[P/N: "Beta testers. Just burn in hell. Seriously, Im still bitter"

[Lowein-sama: "(o)(o)(o)"

[Jasper: "Hahahaha"

All of us applied in Argus for «Beta Testing» for SAO two months ago, and luckily, four out of six of us somehow got picked. But unfortunately for Hiro and me, luck wasn't on our side.

That was also the reason why our guild had become slightly innactive this last few weeks, all four of them are busy spending their time on SAO.

[TheHulk: "Good thing for you, your luck didn't betray you this time hahaha"

[Hiro: "You said that, but like P/N, I'm still bitter on you guys"

[Jasper: "Don't be like that, all items and exps that we grinded for two months will be reset for good tomorrow! That seriously sucks you know!"

[P/N: "Now that I remembered, what's the exact time of the launch tomorrow??"

[Lowein-sama: "1 pm"

[TheHulk: "It's 1 in the afternoon.."

[Hayamaster: "Was the meet up place didn't change?"

[Jasper: "Yeah, in Pililla Village. It's a small village outside of the Town of Beginnings, First Floor."

[TheHulk: "Hiro and P/N, there's a small inn on that village that the we used as our base before"

[P/N: "..Even if you said that, Hiro and I doesn't even know this 'Town of Beginnings'.. It's gonna be our first dive remember? How on earth are we supposed to find that place?"

[Lowein-sama: "ur so whiny P/N (-_-)"

[P/N: "Shut up Lowein"

[Hayamaster: "Pililla Village is just on the north outside of the town where you would initialy spawn. And after that, just look for a building that has a 'ALMA'S INN' written on it's walls, and thats it."

[TheHulk: Don't worry, it's a very small village so I'm pretty sure you would find that Inn easily. Jasper and I would also log in immediately once the launch started to secure that place for us."

[P/N: "Ahh, Jasper and you Hulk are brothers right?"

[Jasper: "Yeah"

[TheHulk: "Yep"

[Hiro: "Now that I think about it, this would be the first time that all of us would meet right?"

[Hayamaster: "Yeah, even though the only thing that you will see is an avatar made from a bunch of options and lump of polygons."

[Jasper: "Way to kill our leaders expectation Hayamaster.."

[TheHulk: "Hahahhahha"

[Lowein-sama: "dont worry, im gunna make my avatar looked rilly cool for u guys"

[P/N: "Dont neeeed it..."

[Hiro: "Hahaha"

[Lowein-sama: "(T_T)(T_T)(T_T)"

[Hayamaster: "Gonna hit the bed now guys, see you there tomorrow.." (Hayamaster logged out)

[TheHulk: "So early! Well, gonna prepare myself for tomorrow too.. Bye guys." (TheHulk logged out)

[Lowein-sama: "me three.." (Lowein-sama logged out)

[Hiro: "I also need some relaxing bath right now"

[P/N: "I just finished mine."

[Hiro: "Really? Gonna take mine too.." (Hiro logged out)

[Jasper: "Haha, I'm gonna log out too P/N, see you there tommorow."

[P/N: "Okay"

[Jasper: (Jasper logged out)

I decided to log off too after that and I shutted my PC off.

I'm kind of itching to play some rounds on CTM but I am already exhausted because of todays events, so I decided to just call it a day and get some good rest.

As I was preparing my bed, I heared the creeking sound of our gate. I peeked outside in my room's window and I saw Linda-san, our housekeeper, opening our gate for my Dad's car.

I decided to go downstairs to greet my Dad.

"Welcome home, Dad" I greeted him.

"Yeah I'm home, did you to got what you wanted to get today F/N?" He asked curiously.

I told him about the «SAO» before when I was asking him to lend his NerveGear to me, so it's really no surprise if he asked me about that.

"Yeah, somehow." I replied.

"Then that's good. I heard that it's crazy popular now, just go and enjoy yourself but don't let that thing make your studies fall behind" He said in a half-joking tone.

"Haha.. I know Dad, don't worry."

To give some background, our family is actually well known throughout the city, the sole reason for that was my Dad. Dad is the Head Commissioner of the Police Force here in our city.

Because of his position, he is feared and very well respected by many.. But at the same time, he's also despised and hated by a lot of people solely because of that power.

One of those 'hate' was also the reason for the 'incident' that had happened on us 5 years ago.. The incident that gave birth to my greatest fear, and the one that took away my Mom from us.

But still, I didn't blame or even hated him for that... it's actually the opposite.

As a kid, it was always my dream to become exactly like him. Protecting everyone's life and risking yourself for the sake of the others... just like the 'Heroes of Justice' that you would always see in a television.

And after that 'incident', my love and respect for my Dad only went up significantly.

It was my dream to follow his footsteps and maybe someday, become a 'hero' like him..

Yes, it was my dream.. It was.

But because of that 'fear', I'm not sure if I can even accomplish that childish dream of mine or not.. At least, not the way that I am right now.

My eyes slowly becomes heavy as my conversation with Dad continues, so I decided to say my goodnights to him.

"I think Linda-san had prepared you a dinner. I've already eaten so I'm gonna head back to my room, goodnight Dad."

"Yeah, go take a rest now." He simply replied as he started walking towards the dining room.

I headed upstairs back to my room and once inside, I crashed myself heavily to my bed to finally get some good sleep.

\--

«Nov 6, 2022 - 1:00 PM» «L/N's Residence»

It's finally the time, «Sword Art Online's» first launch has finally begun just a few moments ago.

Dad is currently on his job right now, so the only people here in our home now is Linda-san and me.

I decided to check our Guild's group chat first just in case before diving. I saw that no one except for me and Hiro are currently online.

I saw «Hiro» typing.

[Hiro: "Yo P/N, I think everyone is in SAO now except for us"

[P/N: "Yeah, we should follow too"

[Hiro: "I'm so pumped! Did you remember the meet up place?"

[P/N: "Yeah kind of. Alma's Inn, Pililla Village,north outside of the Town of Beginnings... Right?"

[Hiro: "Okay that's good! I will start diving now. See you in the other side, P/N.."

[P/N: "Yeah"

[Hiro: (Hiro logged out)

"See you in the other side, huh" His words gave me some chills for some reasons..

..Welp, probably just my imagination.

I shutted off my PC.

And I flipped 'ON' the switch of the «NerveGear's» main console and I inserted the «SAO's» cartridge inside.

And for the last part, I put the «NerveGear» helm on my head as I started laying down on my bed.

The booting up sound of the machine gradually fills up my room..

Finally, this is it. To the new World..

"LINK START!"


	2. Chapter 02 - Welcome to Sword Art Online

Disclamer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara.

\--

«Nov 6, 2022 - 1:15 PM»

«L/N's Residence»

«F/N's Room»

"LINK START!"

As I said those words, the light passing through my eyelids disappeared, the transmissions from my optic nerves was severed and my eyes were enveloped by a total darkness.

Immediately, a rainbow-colored light appeared and it gradually formed into a «Nerve Gear» logo, it's purpose was to confirm the connection to my visual cortex. A line of text appeared below the logo to confirm that the visual connection was OK.

Next, multiple types of sounds resonated, it's purpose was to confirm that the auditary nerve connection is working. A line of text appeared to confirm that the sound connection was OK.

I can feel the sensation of my weight and my bed slowly disappearing, confirming that my feeling of touch and gravity was similarly OK.

As the connection test continued with my various senses, the number of OK's indicated the succesful connection.

At last, the final OK appeared, and the next instant brought me falling through the darkness into the colors of a rainbow.

And after passing through this series of rings, I had arrived in a completely different world...

ーis what I wanted to say but, I have to create my account first..

A greeting «Welcome to Sword Art Online» suddenly appeared and the «Account Creation Interface» pops out. Following the instructions given, I began creating my first account and character, a shiny virtual keyboard appeared and it asked me to enter a «UserID» and a «Password» that I will be using from now on.

Next, I chose the nickname or «IGN» for my character, and I entered the name "«P/N»".

I already decided that I'm going to use my «CTM's» IGN so I didn't put much thought into it.

And my selected gender, of course, was a male.

Finally my favorite part, the «Character Creation». This is when the player can choose what their character would look like, and I'm gonna make my avatar looked perfectly cool as much as possible.

After adjusting a bunch of options and parameters, I finally finished creating my account.

A button with a word «Proceed» pops out and right after I tapped it, I was again sent into a vortex of light and a new world slowly emerged.

«1:30 PM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«Town of Beginnings»

The light engulfing me slowly faded and I found myself standing alongside with the countless number of players surrounded with a number of tall medieval-styled buldings. There's also a large road paved with stone surrounded by street lamps that you can normaly see on any fantasy game or fantasy movies, but this time, I can see it clearly-virtually with my own eyes.

I'm finally here, in «Aincrad»..

"WoOOOOAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

I coudn't hold back myself and I shouted out loud in order to express the excitement that I am feeling right now. It was loud enough to get the attentions of all players nearby, but neither one of them paid serious attention to my vulgar screaming. They all just gave me an understanding smiles and glances proving that all of them, also feels the same way as me.

On the top-left of my view, I noticed a floating «Green Bar» next to my «IGN» that indicates my hitpoints or «HP», and I also noticed the beginners weapon given to all players resting on my back.

I quickly unsheated the «One-Handed Sword» out of it's scabbard and I swung it up-and-down, left-and-right repeatedly like a dumbass.

I got the urge to scream once again out of my excitement, but I succesfuly hold back myself this time.

I heard that SAO doesn't have any magic related stuffs, instead, an endless number of skills were added called «Sword Skills». I am so curious on how those things works so I can't hardly wait anymore to experience it all to myself.

I sheated back my sword and before I could even forget it, I decided to head straight to the north oustide of this plaza to find the village that my guild mates were talking about in order to finally meet them... well their 'virtual self' at least.

I'm running like crazy right now... my body feels so weightless and I think I can even run for a whole day without even getting tired at all. A 'virtual body' is really awesome in many ways.

After 10 more minutes of running, I finally reached the destination, but something doesn't seems right.. The «Pililla Village», the village that was supposed to be our meet up place was replaced by a rural town called «Celesia Town». And not only that, this town is clearly different on what my guild mates had described to me and Hiro before.

The «Pililla Village» was supposed to be a small and old looking village that has only a few number of «NPC's» residing on it... making it a really perfect place for us to use as our temporary 'base'.

But this «Celesia Town» is clearly different, just like the first town, it has a number of medieval-looking buildIngs and a very large number of «Players» and «NPC's» are already gathering here.

"The heck does this mean? Did those guys literally gave us the wrong info?" I said to myself as I slightly scratched my head in confusion.

I noticed a small «bulletin board» near the town's entrance and it looks like it has a «Floor Map» displayed on it.

After looking and cheking the map over and over again, I finally came into a conclusion... there's no mistake, I am in the right direction and the right place, but the «Pililla Village» didn't exist anywhere here anymore... at least not on this floor.

Maybe the devs had changed the whole village's name and appearance before the official release? And maybe the «ALMA'S INN» that my guild mates were talking about is still actually here?

There is only one way to confirm so I decided to enter the town to explore and to find out if that «Inn» is still actually here.. And if it is, all of my guild mates were probably waiting patiently for me, so I have to look for it faster.

\--

«2:30 PM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«North Hunting Grounds»

After wasting almost an hour searching and exploring, I coudn't find any «ALMA'S INN» let alone any kind of «Inn» inside the whole town. I already reached the town's exit without even finding anything.

I proceeded walking until I was outside of the town hoping for some information, but I noticed that I'm already on the hunting grounds.

I took a quick look around to see that I'm currently surrounded by an endless grassy plains. There should be numerous players fighting monsters around here but because of the enormous size, none of them were visible.

I saw a giant boulder outside of the paved road near me, so I decided to at least take some quick 'rest' next to it.

"Okay, what to do.."

I mumbled tiredly, feeling slightly dejected.

I think I'm gonna have to take back what I said earlier. Even if I run for almost a day on this world, my real body on the real world was completely not moving at all... but the feeling of weariness and fatigue still stayed so in a sense, you can still actually feel «tired».

While I was taking my short break, I saw a lone «player» standing completely still in the middle of the plains. I tried my best to look closely to the player while still seated in my position until I noticed that this «player» was actually a girl.

Having nothing to do, I just continued observing her from afar, only to notice she's literally not moving at all for almost 10 minutes now.

Maybe she's lagging? Disconnected? Slightly curious, I stood up and decided to move closer to her in order to see what's going on.

As I got near her back, I noticed that except for her 'chestnut' colored hair that goes all the way on her middle back, the overall looks of her avatar looks exactly like the «default appearance» given for the female players... and unlike me, she didn't even bother customizing her avatar carefully aside from her hair.

"Hello?" I decided to say a word to her as a gretting, but I was given no response.

"Um, Hello??" The girl only continued on staring off blankly into the space.

I almost thought that this girl was maybe an «NPC», but I noticed the «Green Cursor» floating over her head, indicating that she is really a player like me.

I called her out once again but still failed to get a response from her and I'm starting to get really curious if she's really a player or not. So I decided to move forward a on her left side and slightly 'pinched' her left cheek to see what's going to happen.

She jolted out and let out a small "kya!" when she felt what I did, looks like my attempt to get a reaction from her was successful this time.

Surprised, the girl quickly stepped back and turned to face me. Her expression shows that what I did seriously startled her, so her gesture proves that she's really a player just like me.

"Finally, a response.." I said triumphantly.

Her expression turned foul in response, maybe upon realizing everything.

This may be a virtual world but for some people, what I did just right now is exactly what they called, you know, 'sexual harrasment'.

Maybe after realizing that the one who 'touched' her was actually a male stranger, she gritted her teeth and balled her right fist tightly...

...But it's already far too late when noticed that, and she sucessfully landed her fist right on my face, sending me flying for almost 10 meters. What a ridiculous strength.

"OwwーThat hurts!! ...Oh waitーIt's not. IT'S NOT!! Awesome!! Hahaha!!" Out of a human's natural instinct, I slowly rubbed my face to ease some pain only to realize that I didn't felt any pain from it, I lost some of my «HP» but her punch didn't actually hurt me...

...So let me say this once again, a 'virtual body' is really AWESOME!

I almost forgot the threat that I'm currently facing and I saw the girl slowly walking towards me with a furious expression on her face.

"W-W-Wait! Wait! It's a misunderstanding!" I said as I frantically waved both of my hands.

She is slowly reaching my position but there's still no change on her behaviour, and for the worst part, she suddenly draw out the sword that was sheated on her left side, a «One-Handed Sword» just like mine and she pointed it straight on my face.

"Explain." She ordered, coldly.

Seriously, what's up with that killing intent? I didn't do anything harmful to her right?

"W-Wait! I'm just trying to talk to you earlier! But you're not responding at all so I thought you're maybe an NPC or lagging or d-disconnected or something! I didn't mean any vile from it believe me!" I frantically spurted my excuses.

"Really now?! Was that 'sexual harassment' of yours necessary?!" She asked again, still in intimidating tone while angrily pointing to her left cheek that I pinched earlier.

"HUH? Sexual harassment? It's not like I directly touched your real body! That's only a virtual body and more importantly, I barely touched you! What's the harm on that?" I retorted back, slightly becoming annoyed.

Her brows glitched upon hearing what I said.

"W-What did you say?"

And suddenly, she pressed her left foot forward as she started raising her sword on top of her right shoulder, after that, the sword suddenly emmits a glowing blue light... still aiming towards my direction.

But wait a minute.. What is that?! Is that a Sword Skill?!

"ーAlright! ALRIGHT! I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!!" Realizing her hostile actions, I quickly grovelled on my knees as if begging for my life.. Seriously?

She only stared down at me in response, still aiming on my direction, but the glowing blue light on her sword is slowly vanishing.

Well even if I happen to die here, I'm simply gonna get respawned in the Town of Beginnings.. But I can't afford to do that now...

...Why? This girl in front of me just did a «Sword Skill» right? And since I can't find where the heck are all my guild mates are, (the people who was supposed to teach me these things) why not ask this player instead of wasting my time now?

But first, I need to cool her down.

"Hey.." I said, slightly glancing up on her.

"What?"

"The thing that you did earlier, that's a Sword Skill right?" I asked earnestly.

"Yeah, what of it?" She's still angry based on her tone.

"Can you, teach me how to use those skills?"

"Huh.. Why do I have to do that?"

"Pretty Please!" I said as I literally begged her right now... that shows just how desperate I am to learn how those awesome skills works, I just want to experience it for myself.

"Actually, there are some people that were supposed to teach me all of that.. They're my friends and they're also playing this game right now..." I said as I slowly shifted up my position.

She finally lowered her blade down and started listening to me.

"...All of us were supposed to meet on 'that' town behind us, but I already wasted an hour and I have yet to find any one of them! And I can't hardly wait anymore to experience those skills to myself aaaand you looked like you already know some of it so can you please teach me how to do it please!" I added, as I frantically explained my situation to her, to at least connivince her.

She only let out a sigh and at last, finally sheating back the sword on her scabbard.

"Its not that I don't want to teach you, I just happen to know a bit of it, but I also don't know how to fully use those things like you". She said.

"What? But that was a sword skill right? The thing that you did earlier?" I confusedly asked.

"Yeah, but I only mimicked what I saw from the other players earlier out of... anger. It's not like I have some real knowledge about it."

"...Uggghh" Looks like it's a mission failed.

"Wait. I heard that there's a 'tutorial book' or something for sword skills on the player's personal shop, I still haven't checked it though." She said.

"..A sword skill tutorial book?"

She simply nodded in response.

I put my right index finger in the air and pulled downwards, this was the action that was done to call the «Player Menu Window». Straight afterwards, there was a ringing sound and a shining white rectangle appeared.

I clicked the «Shop» button and browsed through the available items, and here it is, the «Sword Skill Handbook» with the cheap price of 'free'. I tapped the «Buy» button and a small handbook materializes on my hand out of nowhere.

I opened the book and It looks like it really contains some basic tutorials about using some sword skills.

"..I feel so dumb all of the sudden. I didn't know this thing exists" I mumbled tiredly.

"So that's it. You don't really need someone to teach those things to you, you can just learn them by yourself." She said, putting an arm on her hips.

"Yeah, sorry for disturbing you, and again, that thing earlier.." I apologetically said.

"..W-Well, me too. You just really startled me, I seriously hate it when people suddenly surprises or startles me.. Sorry for hitting you."

So she's the kind of person who punches anyone just by surprising her.. Scary woman.

There's still something that I wanted to ask her, but it would be rude to just adress her as "hey" or "you" so I decided to finally ask the question.

"Can I ask your name?"

She seems a bit hesitant about my question, but after pondering for a moment, she responded..

"Asuna."

\--

Next: World of Swords


	3. Chapter 03 - World of Swords

Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara.

\--

«Nov 6, 2022 - 3:00 PM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«North Hunting Grounds»

"Can I ask your name?"

"Asuna."

So it's «Asuna» huh..

"Ok, it's P/N by the way." I said introducing myself back.

She just nodded in response.

"You didn't have this book yet right?" I asked, raising the handbook to show it to her.

"No, I'm not really that interested on those things earlier" She replied.

"Earlier?"

"Yeah, but now that Ive tried it myself, I'm kind of a bit curious now.."

She decided to buy the handbook for herself after that, while I remained seated as I started opening mine and flipped through the pages until I found the «One-Handed Sword Skills» section.

"Hmm, let's see.. So the basic sword skill for the One-Handed Sword is the «Vertical», is that what you did earlier?" I asked her.

"Yeah it seems so, that's what I heard from the players earlier, I think.." Asuna-san nodded as she started opening the hand book for herself "They said that if you did the right motion or something, that skill would activate.." She added.

"Motion?" I flipped through the pages again until I reached the «Activating Sword Skills» section and I read it for a few moments "It says here that you have to do the correct «Motion» first before the system would recognize it... and after that, the system will automatically put your «Sword Skill» into action and hit the target for you.. Ah, so that stance that you did earlier was the «Motion» for the «Vertical»? Asuna-san?" I asked after understanding what the «Motion» really means.

"Yeah, probably.."

"Now back to Vertical.." I flip the pages back to the «One-Handed Sword Skills» section to see how to execute the «Vertical» properly.

"Here in page 23, there's a full page of explanation about it" Asuna-san said pointing to page that she found.

"AhーOk, found it.."

I read the whole page until I learned the correct motion for the «Vertical» sword skill. There was an image provided that shows exactly the same stance that Asuna-san did earlier.

"Alright! I'm gonna do it."

And with that, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to execute my very first «Sword Skill».

"Hey, aren't you a bit too serious about this?" She said, making me frown for moment.

"You just dont get it Asuna-san.. I've been waiting for this moment to come for exactly two months now, can you blame me for being excited like this?!" I retorted while stepping back a bit from my position to start executing the «Motion» for the sword skill.

"Mm.. Is that so.." She amusingly mumbled in response.

"Motion... Motion..." I pulled out the sword from my back and raised it up, making it rest on the top of my right shoulder as I pressed my left foot forward and started lowering my pose.

According to the handbook and based on what Asuna-san did earlier, this stance was the correct motion for the «Vertical» but for some reason, nothing is happening.. It seems like the system won't recognize my stance.

"H-Huh? E-Eh? I'm.. I'm not doing anything wrong right..?" I awkwardly retried my stance for several times, but nothing was clearly working.

"Pft.."

I noticed Asuna-san turned to face away from me as she let out a stifled laugh.

"..W-What so funny?"

Then right after that, the sword that were resting above my shoulder started giving off a bright blue light. It seems that I successfuly executed the correct «Motion» this time and the system finally recognized it... quickly after that, my right hand almost moved by itself: Vertically slashing from the top of my shoulder down to bottom through the air.

"Woah-Wha.. That's.. THAT WAS AWESOME!! Did you see that Asuna-san? Did you see that? Haha that's so cool!!" Wide eyed upon realizing what I just did, my excitement started rousing up once again.

"You're exaggerating.." She smiled "..How is it? Your very first sword skill?" She added the last part in a bit of teasing manner.

"Mmm.. How should I explain it.. Uuhmm.. I feel like I gathered some kind of energy and after that, the sword suddenly just moved by itself and thenーBAM!!"

"Bam, eh?"

"Yeah!! I already know how cool these swords skills before but now that Ive done it myself, I can't further explain it's awesomeness anymore!"

"Well I think I can relate on you with that, a little bit.." She said.

"I know right?! Jasper was right! This is way better than guns!"

"Guns??" She confusedly asked.

"Yeah, HA..! HA..!" I replied as I started to reuse the same skill over and over once again.

"-But swords are completely different from guns right? I don't think you can compaーWait, you fired a gun before?" She asked, clearly surprised.

Let me tell you something for moment..

..Not so long ago, determined to fully 'rebuild' myself, I asked or should I say, I begged, my Dad to teach me how to fire a gun.

And of course, he refused. A 15-year old brat asking his father to teach him how to use a weapon specialized for 'killing', no sane parent would agree on that.

But just as surprising as it already is, after saying that I wanted to become like him, he suddenly agreed to teach me to my surprise.

I seriously thought that that reason was not enough for him to comply... while it's true that it 'was' my dream to become like him, I only said that out of my sheer desperation.

But now that I think about it... after that 'inccident' five years ago, and after seeing how it seriously affected us, I think he just wanted to see on how true and determined I am on my words.. That's the kind of person my Dad is.

I would like to explain more about this but this is not what I actually meant when I compared how awesome these swords over guns earlier.. I'm actually talking about CTM, the shooting game that I'm currently addicted on... but given how incredibly awesome SAO is, I think I might change my hobby from now.

"W-Well yeah.. I do know how to fire a gun, a bit.."

"Really?"

"B-But wait! I'm not talking about that! You see, I'm addicted to this game called Counter Mercenaries.."

She ponders for a moment before responding "Are you talking about CTM? It's also from Argus right? I sometimes see my Brother play it too.."

It looks like her 'Brother' is also a CTM player too.

"Yeah it's an FPS, meaning its a game for 'guns'.. And SAO is completely different because it's a game for 'swords'... and unlike CTM, you can literally use your weapon with your own virtual body here! That's why I kind of blurted out that swords are better than guns! Ha-haha.." I said as I awkwardly explained myself..

"Well, I kind of get it if you put it that way. " She replied, agreeing on what I said.

I continued on re-executing the «Vertical» sword skill for a few more times until I got used to it.

"Alright, I think I'm used to it now! I wonder if there is something I can use as a target.." I said after realing that hitting and slicing the air were not the best way to experience it.

The training grounds is surrounded by a wide grassy plains, so I decided to take a quick look around to see if there are some weak «monsters» nearby that I can use as target.

"A target huh.. How about that thing?" Asuna-san said as she pointed to the numerous «boars» roaming for about 70 meters away from us "The players that I mentioned before also used those monsters as their target earlier, and it kinda looks easy to defeat" She added.

"Okay, what to do.."

I pondered for a moment first before deciding "Yeah, I think those things would do."

I then began sheating my sword back on it's scabbard.

"Let's go Asuna-san! Let's put these skills into action!" I said as I sprinted towards the direction of the boars, leaving Asuna-san a bit behind.

"Hey waitーDo I have to come too?" She asked, making me stop on my tracks.

"Well not really... but you're probably planning on staring blanky to the space again right? That would be boring ya knooow!!" I replied teasingly.

She's a bit far behind me so I have to raise my voice for her to hear me.

"W-What..? I'm not staring blankly at all!"

"Haha whatever, just come! This would be fun!"

Asuna-san lets out a sigh before conceding and decided following me "..Ok.."

We both reached the area and we saw a single boar far away from it's companions roaming alone near us, so we decided to make it as our first target.

Were basically newbies so Asuna-san and I doesn't have any kind of information about the «monsters» in this game, so we both agreed that observing the monster's movements first would be the best course of action to do.

We concealed ourselves on a giant boulder near us just barely 10 meters away from the boar so we can carefully observe it from afar.

"«Frenzy Boar» huh? So monsters do have some kind of names here.." Asuna muttered.

"..Of course they do" I replied "Every entity or items in this game do have some names, or at least something like that... it's an RPG after all." I added not turning my glance away from the monster.

"RPG huh.. It's my first one so I'm not very familiar with these"

"What.. Really?" I surprisingly asked.

"Yeah. I have played some games before, but SAO was the first RPG-thing that I've ever played until now" She replied.

Now that's some kind of luck. I mean, countless die hard RPG fans almost literally died just to get a copy of this game yesterday. And given that SAO was her very first one, I think she's really lucky to even get one.

"I said earlier that these boars looks easy to defeat... but now that I got a closer look on one, they actually looks really strong"

"Nah, I think these boars are actually the 'slime' of this game."

"S-Slime?" She confusedly asked.

"You see, slimes are considered to be the one of the weakest kind of monster when it comes to RPG games.. So given that these boars are just freely roaming around on this plains means that their purpose were to become 'exp fodders' for new players like us." I said as I explained to her carefully.

"Hmm.. I think I get in now." She nodded, not removing her eyes from the boar.

We have observed the monster's movement enough and it looks like it doesn't have any kind of unusual movements aside from walking back and forth repeatedly, so I decided to finally make a move.

"Let's go, just follow me from behind" I said as and I pulled out the sword on my back and prepared myself to attack the boar.

"Okay" She replied.

After taking a deep breath, I stood up from hiding as I picked up a small pebble from my feet and I threw it straight to the boar in order to gain it's attention.

"Ggiiiik!" The boar squealed and it immediately turned and charged fiercely towards me.

I quickly lowered my pose and did the right motion for the «Vertical» once again, the system sensed my pose correctly and the sword started started shining blue.

"Ha!!"

With the system targeting the boar and assisting my whole movement, I jumped off the ground and with a crisp slicing sound, the sword drew a blue trajectory and struck the charging boar right on it's neck... cutting it's HP down to 30%.

"Giiikk!" A loud squeal came out from the boar once again.

Then right afterwards, the boar noticed it's second threat, Asuna-san. It easily recovered from my attack and moved surprisingly quick to charge directly at her.

"Asuna-san, it's coming for you!" I shouted to warn her from the incoming attack heading towards her.

It looks like being a newbie to this game doesn't mean anything to Asuna-san, as after noticing the charging boar towards her, she automatically lowered her pose and did the same motion that she and I did earlier, the motion for the «Vertical» sword skill.

"Hah!"

With her low yell, the boar was once again struck on it's neck, but this time, Asuna-san's attack completely got rid all of it's remaining HP.

"Gueecckkkkkー" It screamed a pitiful cry completely different from earlier and it's large body shattered like glass.

A white floating window with text and numbers appeared in front of us, showing how much virtual experience points we've both gathered.

"Yeah!! See?! It's awesome right?!" I triumphantly said as I raised my hand to give her a high five.

"Well, yeah.. It's not bad I think" She smiled before raising her hand to accept my gesture.

I sheated my sword back on my back as I clenches my fist in excitement. This sensation, the exhilarating feeling of 'destroying' my enemies with my own hands.. I want more..

"I'm gonna go hunt for more until I get used to it. How about you, what are you gonna do now?" I asked.

After thinking for a moment, Asuna sheated her sword as she walks towards me while observing the whole area as well "It's 3:30 and I still have some free time until 6 pm before I log out, so I think I can accompany you for a bit, if that's ok with you."

"Of course! I think we should form a party for the time being, I saw how to do it on the menu earlier"

I opened my menu to give her a «Party» invitation.

«5:25 PM»

We hunted a countless number of «Frenzy Boars» that was spawning and roaming around the area... we ganged up on one after another so we can finish the fight easily without getting any damage from them, and after almost 2 hours, Asuna-san and I decided to take a break.

While taking a short rest, we decided to organize the items and money that we've got from our hunting session.

...But for some reasons, I can't shake the feeling of uneasiness building inside of me for a while now.. And this feeling, it is very familliar to me but I just can't grasp what exactly it is...

Asuna-san turned to me after closing her floating window "Hey, you said earlier that you have some friends playing this game too right? What happened to them?"

"Ah."

And a silent moment of realization...

"ARRGH!! Shoot!! I completely forgot about them!!" I jolted up from my seat upon remembering Hiro and my guild mates.

"You're too focused on your sword skills, they're your friends right? Some kind of friend you are.." She said in a half-jokingly manner.

"W-Well yeah but actually, they're all my online friends in our guild, all of us haven't met each other in the real world yet.. Not yet.."

"A guild?"

"Yeah. We have a guild in CTM and four of our members are also «Beta Testers» here in SAO. Well, in other words, they're already familiar with some stuffs here..."

Asuna-san intently listened on me.

"...We all decided to meet on a small village that they used as their 'base' during the closed beta, but the thing is..." I turned to face the town far behind us "...I've already checked the whole map earlier, but I coudn't find the village that my friends were talking about anywhere in this floor." I added.

"What was the name of the village?" She asked.

"They said It was called «Pililla Village», and that was supposed to be on 'that' place.." I said as I pointed to the «Celesia Town» behind us.

"That village?"

I nods.

"But if I remembered correctly, «Pililla» isnt the name of that village.. And besides, that wasn't really a small village right? That place was actually pretty big.." She stated confusedly.

"Yeah exactly! I think the devs changed the «Pililla Village» into «Celesia Town» today"

Asuna-san ponders for a moment before responding "Why don't you try contacting them?"

"I can't. I think to message anyone here, both players needs to register themselves as «Friends» first before you can contact or message them directly" I said.

"Mm, is that so.. Then why don't you log out for now and try contacting them outside?"

Oh. I didn't think about that earlier.

"Yeah that's it!"

I was about to open my menu but I suddenly stopped myself "If I log out now, I think I might be gone for while. We should both add ourselves as friends soー"

I was interrupted by her next action..

She raised her right hand and started opening her menu, and after that, she removed herself from our «Party».

"I'm going to log out too after you... and I probably won't touch SAO again after this, so there's really no need to add me"

"W-Wha.. Why?"

I'm seriously surprised after hearing what she just said.. Asuna-san may be a newbie, but she was surprisingly good: She can pick up things so fast and her reflexes are also good.. Those two things are what you need exactly in order to become good at this game, so suddenly quitting after the first day would definitely be a total waste. I wonder why.

And as if hearing my thoughts, she started explaining herself.

"The thing is, this NerveGear and the copy of SAO that I'm using isn't actually mine.."

"Not yours?"

She nodded "..Yeah, it's from my Brother. He only happened to have some business to do and wasn't able to play today, so I just asked him to lent me this game for at least today, so I can see what this world looks like..." Asuna-san said as she turned to face me

"...I did enjoyed it, but my Brother was the one who owns the copy that I'm using, so I have to return it to him." She added.

"I see, that's a shame then." I honestly said "Well, looks like this would be the last time that I'll see you here" I added half jokingly, as I opened my menu and started swiping upwards to look for the «Log Out» button located at the bottom.

"Yeah. Well, you have some friends here too right? It's not like you're going to be alone"

"Haha yeah, you're right"

I was nearing the bottom so I decided to say my farewells to her.

"See you around then, Asuna-san."

She gave me a smile and only nodded in response.

And after that, I finally reached the bottom of my menu and...

...my body frozed.

It wasn't here.

The «Log Out» button, disappeared.

This was the point where Sword Art Online, the game that I greatly admired, became the living hell for me.

\--

Next: Death Game


	4. Chapter 04 - Death Game

Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara.

\--

«5:45 PM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«North Hunting Grounds»

The «Log Out» button that was located at the bottom of my menu, and the button that will allow you to escape from this world, wasn't here..

"..Eh?"

"Hm? What's wrong?" Asuna-san asked, noticing my strange tone.

It took me for a couple of seconds before I can answer "..Theres no log out button."

"Huh? Look a bit closer" She said, a bit confused.

I stared at the empty space for a few moments to gather my thoughts, then I looked through my menu once again making sure that it hadn't just changed it's position.But I failed.I can't find the «Log Out» button anywhere.

"Asuna-san could you take a look at yours?"

"Wait a sec.." She stood up from her seat to open her menu and she swiped her fingers upwards until she reached the bottom of her menu.

Her reaction showed clearly her answer, but I still asked anyway "Is it there?"

"It's not here either.." She replied, closing her menu "What does that mean? A Bug?"She asked, with bit of worry on her tone.

"Y-Yeah maybe, it's the first day after all, so I think these kind of bugs could occur"

"You didn't sound very reassuring..."

She's right. To tell the truth, I'm actually very confused right now, I just find it really weird... it may be a bug, but it's an «impossible to log out» bug, we can't even get back to our own body right now.

"Is there some other way to log out?" She asked.

"No I don't think there is.. I've read the manual before but I didn't saw any other way of logging off"

In order to attain the «FullDive» state, the NerveGear blocks the signals that our brain sends to our spines and changes them so that we can control our avatars on this world. So however wildly we swing our virtual arms here, my real body, which was lying on my bed right now, wouldn't move an inch.

But because of this function, we can't cancel the FullDive of our own free will right now, so the «Log Out» button on the menu is literally our only way to get back to the real world... but I guess that's not possible right now.

Asuna-san puts a finger on her chin "Hey, don't you think this is kind of bad? I mean, having a problem like this on the very first day?"

And that's the thing that seriously bothers me right now.

"Yeah, you're exactly right. Argus, the company of this game are actually very well known for being considerate about their users, that's why playing CTM was really a good experience for us..." I said as I kept thinking about our situation.

"...That was also the reason why everyone was so crazy to get a copy even though SAO was their first online VR game, I just can't help but find it really wrong" I continued.

"Mm.." She nodded in response "My Brother also said that SAO was the first vrmmorpg-thing right?"She added.

That's right. If something goes wrong now, they might put the regulations of the genre itself.

"Okay, what to do.."

Not reaching any conclusions, Asuna and I can only both sigh.

"Well, there's really no point on stressing on it. If it's really a bug, then the only thing that we can do now is to wait until it's fixed." I said while returning to my seat earlier.

"I guess so.. But what about your friends?" She asked.

"They're probably waiting for me right now somewhere here, but I'm seriously gonna have to apologize to them once I logged out here.. How about you? You were supposed to be out on six right? What are you gonna do now?" I asked her back.

"Hm.. I'm not planning on coming back after this, so I think I'm just gonna take my time and relax for the mean time... watching 'that' might be a good idea."She answered as she turned her gaze at the sunset behind me

I turned around to witness the mesmerizing sky painted with red.

"..So hard to believe that all of this, is just a small part of this game." I muttered.

"Just a game huh.. Looks like you're really enjoying yourself here" Asuna-san amusingly said.

"Of course I do, I already love games before, but this one feels totally different.. How should I explain this..." I replied as I look for the correct words "...I feel like a different person here. Ever since I came here, unlike the outside world, everything was just great, and everything was just so fulfilling." I said.

"..Fulfilling?"

"Yeah. I mean, we can freelly do everything here! You can fight monsters, you can live up to your fantasies! You can even 'kill' anyone here without any problem at all!"

"K-Kill?! W-What do you mean?" She asked, completely surprised with what I just said.

"I mean, you can hit, you can hurt, you can kill almost anyone here! Even yourself...!" I continued as I took the sword sheated on my back and I slitted my left wrist with it, opening a small and glowing wound-like mark and showed it to her.

"See? I don't feel any pain from it at all!"

A bit open mouthed, the only that thing that she can do was observe my actions.

"But you know what?" I continued "Even if we do die here, unlike in the real world, we're just gonna get respawned after that! It's feels like we have infinite lives here! Isn't that great? We can't die at all! It's almost like we ourselves are gods here! To me that's really awesome!"

Not removing her stare at me, Asuna-san completely turned silent because of what I just did... and the confused expression on her face earlier had been replaced with a bit worried, but understanding look.

I know it myself. What I just said to her was really, really strange. But I can't help it, all of that was true, at least to me..

And those words, those words are what I truly felt about here.. Because unlike in the real world, I feel really fulfilled here.

"Sorry, did I startled you?" I said, breaking the silence.

She only smiled in response "No don't apologize, you just surprised me, but I kind of get what you mean..." She said.

"...Just like you, I also feel invincible here. After all, everything about here is completely different from outside." She added "That's why I was very curious to see on what this world actually looked like, I kept thinking on how this new world would affect me, and I wanted to experience it all to myself..."

I could only stare at her in response.

"...Even if it's only for a brief moment, I wanted to escape the reality." She lastly added.

"I see." Is the only thing that I can say after understanding what she meant

"So how is it? Did you really enjoyed your time here? Asuna-san?" I asked again as I turned my eyes back at sunset behind us.

"I said it earlier right? I did enjoyed my time here, I really did..." She smilingly replied "...But you have to understand that nothing lasts forever, and even good things has it's end."

Right after I heared those words, the feeling of uneasiness that I felt earlier, is hitting me again.

And after that..

..My world changed forever.

"DING" "DING"

A chiming noise like a bell sounded loudly, making the two of us jumped in surprise.

And suddenly, Asuna-san and I were immersed in a clear blue pillar of light and my vission blurred steadily.

"Huh!?"

"W-What is this!?"

We both said loudly at the same time and stared at each other, both of our eyes wide.

"W-What's happening?" Panic can be heard through her voice.

As my thoughts raced, the light around me pulsed stronger and darkness overtook me.

«6:00 PM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«Town of Beginnings»

As the blue light engulfing us faded, my surroundings became clear again. However, this wasn't the plains lit with the sunset anymore.

This was the starting point, the central plaza of the «Town of Beginnings».

I looked at Asuna-san who had her mouth slightly open next to me, then at the bustling layers of players that surrounded the two of us. There were about a few thousand, no, ten thousand players here.

It became clear to me that all of us, everyone who has logged on right now has been forcefully teleported here.

But why did the operators initiated a forced teleport? Why didn't they even informed us?

Few mumbles and and mutters could be heard here and there, and just for a few seconds, it became louder.

"What the hell is happening?"

"Hey GM's get the hell out here!"

"Can we log out now?"

"Is this a joke?"

Annoyed comments like this could be heard from time to time.

"Do you know what's happening?"Asuna turned to me.

"No, I'm still confused right now. But I'm pretty sure it's something very important, the GM's won't forcefully teleport all the thousand players here if that wasn't the case.."I answered.

"Maybe an anouncement? Or something like that?" Asuna responded, a sound of worry clearly present on her tone.

After that, somebody suddenly shouted

"Ahh.. Look above!"

Asuna-san and I almost automatically turned our eyes upward and looked.

There, a strange sight greeted us.The bottom surface of the 2nd Floor, one hundred meters up in the air was chekered in red. When I looked closely, I could make out that they were made up of two phrases criss-crossing each other.

[WARNING] and the other one is [ANNOUNCEMENT, both written in a blood red color.

"Seems like you're right, it's an anouncement."I said, still not removing my eyes upward.

"Yeah, but isn't that a bit.. weird?" She anxiously replied.

Before I can even respond to her, the middle of the pattern above us, a liquid similar to blood started oozing down slowly, but it didn't fall down, instead, it started morphing into another shape. What appeared is a twenty-meter tall man with a red hooded-robe draped around him. But it has no face. It was absolutely empty.

All we could see inside of it were shadows. And the empty space beneath the hood gave me an unexplainable feeling of anxiety.

"Woah, it doesn't have a face haha!"

"It's a GM right? Ive seen that costume before.."

"Creepy-Man..."

Numerous whispers like this could be heard.

Then the right hand of the huge robe moved, silencing all of them.Afterwards, I almost feel like the faceless person opened its mouth. Then a low and calm voice of a male resonated from high up in the air.

""Players, Welcome to my world..""

My world, huh. Well if he's a GM, he certainly have a god-like powers in this world, but why is he pointing out that now?

""My name is Kayaba Akihiko. And right now, I am the only, and the sole person who can control this world..""

Kayaba Akihiko? I knew that name.. This person, who was a both game designer and a genius in the field of quantum physics, was the one responsible for raising «Argus». He was also the development director of «SAO» and the designer of the «NerveGear» at the same time.

But what was he doing here? It's true that he's the creator of this game, but I heard that this guy always stood behind the scenes, always refusing to expose himself to the media, so why now? Maybe because it's the first launch of his game? Yeah, that must be it..

""I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the LOG OUT button was missing from the menu. But this is not a bug.""

"Not a bug?" Someone from the crowd asked loudly.

""I repeat: This is not a bug. This is the main feature of the «Sword Art Online».""

"M-Main feature?" Asuna-san said to no one.

His announcement continued, and I don't feel really good about this.

""All of you, cannot log out of your own free will until you reach the top of this castle..""

Ahh. So this is some kind of event. And there's also a castle somewhere here in the 1st floor, my guild mates didn't mention about that..

"But an event at a time like this?" I muttered.

The next thing that Kayaba said completely blew all my confusions away.

""The «Ruby Palace», my castle, is located at the top of this world. And you must get to the top of the Aincrad, the 100th floor and defeat the boss that resides there. And of course, that boss itself, is me..""

A moment of silence. And his explanation continues.

""..also, the discontinuation or dismantling of the NerveGear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted, the signal sensors in your NerveGear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions.""

Kayaba stated those words so casually that it took me for a moment to clearly understand what he said.

Destroy our brains.

In other words:Kill us.

Any user that turned the NerveGear off or unlocked the clasp and took it off will be killed. That is what Kayaba had just stated.

The moment that those thoughts flooded through my mind, my heart skipped a beat. And the foreboding that I was sensing earlier, finally makes sense.

People in the crowed started muttering, but no one is shouting or panicking. It was either everyone like me, coudn't fully understand it yet, or refused to.

"Ha-haha.. Just what is this guy saying??" I let out a dry laugh, but my face shows exactly the opposite.

And Asuna-san, who is currently standing next to me also gave the same expression as mine.

"D-Did this guy gone insane? The SAO, the NerveGear, it's just a game.. So destroying our brains? K-Kill us? How is he going to do thaー" I stopped and my voice broke at the last part when I realized something..

When Dad first bought a NerveGear for his job three months ago, he asked me to read the full manual and explain to him how the new hardware fully operates. I spent a whole day before I can even understand the general idea on how the revolutionary device works. The infinite signal sensors in the NerveGear's helmet emitted a small electronic pulses to send virtual signals to brain, and this basic theory was also the same as the certain household appliance.

The microwave.

If there was sufficient output, it was possible that the NerveGear would vibrate the water particles in our brain and fry it with the heat of the friction.

Theorotically, it's possible. As long as the NerveGear has enough power supply, it can possibly emit those kind of pulses. And unfortunately, 30% of the NerveGear's weight is in the battery, so even if we pull the plug of the NerveGear out of it's power supply, it can still emit that sort of strong pulses.

"B-But what if there was a sudden power outage or something?" I asked silently to no one.

As if Kayaba had heard what I said, he started explaining once again.

""To be a little more specific, dislocation from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear, if any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start. These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world. On that note, there have been several cases where the relatives or friends have ignored the warnings and tried to forcefully get rid of the Nerve Gear. The result...""

Kayaba took a short breath here.

""...regretfully, almost 200 players have already exited this game, and the real world forever.""

A long, thin scream was heard. But most of the players couldn't.

I stumbled back a few paces on my feet, and fell on my backside.

200 players have already died.

This is unbelievable.. This is just too much..

This is just a joke right? He's just trying to scare us..

But as if to dismiss my hope, Kayaba started talking again.

""Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies that you have left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and internet media are all repeatedly reporting this situation, including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gear taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have given, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax.. And concentrate on beating the game.""

"W-What.. Did you say??"

I dryly said, having had enough on everything... and I stood up grogilly on my feet.

"What are you saying?!! Beat the game?!!"

Then at last, my mouth started shouting violently.

"Our life is literally on the line here!!! We can die any moment and you want us to play around in your goddamn game in a situation like this?!!"

My breath is ragged and my voice is in tatters, but I kept shouting, glaring at the red robe that had seeped out of the surface of the upper floor.

"This is not a fucking game anymore!!!"

Then, Kayaba Akihiko started announcing silently with his monotonous voice.

""But I ask of you all to understand that «Sword Art Online» is no longer a simple game. It is a second reality.. From now on, any form of revival in the game will no longer work. The moment that your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever, and at the same time..""

I could guess what he was going to say, all too clearly.

""Your brain will be destroyed by the NerveGear.""

Your brain will be destroyed by the NerveGear.

That means, you're gonna die.

The phrase replayed over and over again inside my head.

I'm gonna die.

I'm gonna die here..

No.. Anything but that..

I don't wan't to die..

Please..

"I-I have to get out of here.. L-Let me out of here.." I speaked once again, but my voice is slowly breaking down as I slowly stepped backwards.

Then I run, no, I sprinted.

"H-Hey wait! W-Where are youー" Asuna called out for me, but she didn't followed.

And I saw it clearly, despair and hopelessness on her eyes.. Because just like me, the reality that she knew up until now, had just been shattered in front of her.

I run.

I don't care where. I don't wan't to die. I have to get out of here.

My heart raced so fast and I feel like I'm hyper-ventilating.

My mind has gone blank a long time ago.

So I run..Pushing away any players that blocks my way.

And I run..Until I reached one of exits of the town plaza.. But here, I found nothing but an invisible barrier that blocks the plaza's exit for me to make it outside.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!! LET ME OUT OF HERE!!"

I gritted my teeth as I banged the invisible wall frantically, repeatedly.

All the players around me can only stare blankly at the figure above us. But I don't care anymore. Because there's no doubt about it, all words that came out from that man, was absolutely true.

So I have to get out of here.

"Let me out of here!!!"

I continued hitting the invisible wall, but nothing is clearly happening at all.

"L-Let me... out of here... please..." I slumped and fall into my knees once again, in defeat.

"W-Why? Why Is t-this happening? It's just a game right? Why do I have to die here? J-Just this morning, I had eaten the breakfast that Linda-san made for us, and shared a conversation and a few joke's with my Dad, I cant get back to that? And you're saying that this is now my reality? W-W-What did I do for me to deserve all this? I don't want to die here.. Please, someone.. I don't care who.. I'm begging you.. Let me out of here.."

Then again, as if he had heard what I said, Kayaba started speaking again..

""Then I will show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inventories, there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this.""

As soon as I heard this, I tiredly pressed my finger and pulled downwards. All the players did likewise and the plaza was filled with the ringing sound of bells. I pressed the item button on the menu that had just appeared and the item was there, at the top of my belongings list.

The name of the item «Hand Mirror»

Now why did he give us this? Even as I wondered, I tapped on the name and pressed the "make into object" button. Immediately afterwards, there was a twinkling sound effect and a small rectangular mirror appeared.

I grabbed it hesitantly but nothing happened. All that it showed was the face of the avatar that I had gone through a lot of trouble to make.

Then suddenly, the avatars around me were engulfed in white light. As soon as I took this in, I was surrounded too and all I could see was white.

Almost 2, 3 seconds later, the surroundings reappeared just as they had been..

No.

When I looked around again, the crowd was no longer filled with people who looked like characters from a fantasy game.A bunch of normal looking young people had now taken their place. It was like something you'd see if you gathered a bunch of people in real life at a game show venue and dressed them up in armor. Distressingly, even the sex ratio had changed greatly.

Then I was gripped by a sudden foreboding and realized what Kayaba's present, the «Hand Mirror», meant. I raised the mirror in a rush, and the face stared back at me.

(H/C) - Hair Color (E/C) - Eye Color

I saw my (H/C) hair that lay over my head and the pair of (E/C) eyes that I inherited from my Mother is also present... and the face of a warrior named «P/N» had had even a few seconds ago, was no longer there.

The face that was in the mirror, was my actual face that I had tried so hard to escape from.

"I-It's me.." I tiredly said. I can clearly see how lifeless my whole expression right now.

My height, my skin, almost everything that my real body has, it almost completely replicated it. Of course, the texture itself still seemed like a polygon model and it still felt slightly strange, but it was almost frighteningly accurate. It was as if that the NerveGear has a full body scanner on it.

How did it do it? I don't really care anymore.

My whole existence is completely terrified right now to even care about that. My whole body is trembling as I threw the mirror away from my hand. It hit the ground and were destroyed by a quiet smashing sound.

"Damn it all.."I sweared silently to myself.

Then Kayaba, once again, speak for the last time.

""You will all most probably be wondering 'why.' Why am I, the creator of both the Nerve Gear and SAO, Kayaba Akihiko, doing something like this? Is this a sort of terrorist attack? Is he doing this to ransom us?""

It was then that Kayaba's voice, which had been emotionless up to now, seemed to show some signs of emotion.

""None of these is the reason I am doing this. Not only that, but now for me, there is no longer a reason or a purpose in doing this. The reason is because.. This situation itself was my purpose in doing this. To create and watch this world is the only reason I have created the NerveGear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized..""

Then after a short break, Kayaba's voice, now emotionless again, sounded.

""Now i have finished the official tutorial for «Sword Art Online». ーPlayers, I wish you luck..""

His last sentence trailed off with a faint echo. The huge robe rose soundlessly, and started sinking into the system message that covered the sky, as if melting.

Right afterward, the system message that had covered the sky disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.Then the game had returned to its normal state, apart from the fact that a couple of rules had been changed.

Then at last..

The crowd of ten thousand players gave a proper reaction, and countless voices started to resound loudly through the plaza.

"It's a joke right...?

"The hell is this?"

"Stop kidding around! Let me out!"

"Let me out of here!"

"No! You can't! I've got to meet someone soon!"

"I don't like this! I'm gonna go home!

"I wan't to go home!!!!"

Begging, yells,clamours, and screamings.All of them waved their arms about, grasped each other or started to swear loudly. All people here had changed from game players to prisoners.

While everyone was running around, I remained crouched to the ground, clutching my head.

"Why is this happening? If I die here, I'm gonna die in the real world too..."

What's with that?

That's so unfair.

Am I going to die here?

I'm scared.

I don't want to die.

Die.

Death.

Dead.

Die.

Death.

Dead.

...Mom.

Then, the images of that familiar nightmare, slowly flashes inside my head again.

The black pool of thick blood..

The lumps of glistening flesh spread across the floor..

The awkward, twisted tangle of shredded intestines..

The head, wrenched to some grotesque, unnatural position..

"...Ahhー ...AHHーAAAAGHAAGGHHGGGHHHARRRAAAAGGHHGGGHHHAHH!!!!"

I screamed. I clutched my head tightly.

I wanted to puke, but nothing was coming out.

I thought I have forgotten that nightmare before..

But I didn't. I'm still afraid from it.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to run..

..But where am I supposed to go? When this world, Sword Art Online, is my one and reality now?

I was wrong, completely wrong.

This is not the fulfilling world that I first thought It was.

This is Hell.

\--

Next: A Coward


	5. Chapter 05 - A Coward

Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara.

\--

«Nov 20, 2022 - 2:00 PM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«Town of Beginnings - Tavion Inn»

It's been three weeks since Kayaba Akihiko showed up.

It's been three weeks since the world that I once knew, was shattered in front of my eyes.

That day, Kayaba stated that Sword Art Online was not only a mere game anymore, but a 'death game' that if we die here, we will also die in the real world.

Sounds ridiculous right? Unfortunately, it's not.

In only a span of three weeks, almost 2000 of the 10,000 players, or should I say people, had already died in both «Aincrad» and the real world.

And one of the worst part about that was some of those lives were lost because some people choose to end their life themselves.. The panic and the madness that took hold of the players when they realized that they really coudn't get back was unbelievable, and the hope that outside help would come is slowly, slowly disappearing as the number of days passed.

After Kayaba's 'tutorial' on the first day, all players are slowly splitted into four categories:

The FIRST category was consisted of about 20% or roughly 2,000 players. It was a group were all players worked together and shared all of their gains, collected information on the game and set out to explore the «Labrynth Area» where the stairs to the next floor were.The leaders of this group set up their base of operations in the «Black Iron Palace».

Right now, this group still doesn't have an official name, but some members are seen wearing the same uniforms or armors and because of that, some people are slowly starting calling them by the name «The Army».

The SECOND category consisted of, at an estimate of 1,000 players. It was made up of people who wasted all of their money or «Col», but didn't want to make money by fighting monsters.

As a side note, there were two basic bodily needs in SAO: Fatigue and Hunger.

I understood why fatigue existed: Virtual information and real information were no different to the users brains. If players became tired and sleepy they could go to an inn and rent a room to sleep in depending on the amount of money they had just like what i did. If one saved up a lot of «Col» they could buy a house, but the sum needed wasn't small.

Hunger was a need that many players thought of as strange. Although I didn't really want to imagine what was happening to my body in the real world, it was most likely that we were being force-fed nutrients somehow. That meant that the emptiness we felt here had nothing to do with our real bodies. But if we bought some virtual bread or meat in the game and ate it, the emptiness disappeared and we felt full.

So the opposite was true too: The hunger didn't disappear unless we ate something. We most probably wouldn't die if we starved, but the fact that it's a need that's hard to ignore doesn't change.So the players visited the restaurants that the NPCs ran daily and ate some food, at least virtually.

Back to the main point. The SECOND category, the players who had squandered all their money in the beginning who couldn't sleep or eat usually joined the huge organization that I mentioned a while ago, «The Army».

This was because they received at least something to eat if they followed the orders from the top. But there are always those who can't ever cooperate with others however hard they try. The ones who never wanted to join, or got kicked out for causing trouble, used the slums of the «Town of Beginnings» as their base and started thieving.

Inside the city, or the places mostly referred to as «Safe Areas», there was protection implemented by the system and players couldn't hurt each other. But it wasn't like that outside. The stragglers made teams with other stragglers and ambushed other players, which was in many ways much more profitable than hunting monsters out on the fields or the labyrinth areas.

Even then, they never «murdered» anybody, at least not yet.

This group got slowly larger until they reached the aforementioned number of a thousand.

The THIRD category consisted of 30% of all players, the «Guilds» and the «Solo Players».

Right now, there were countless of groups created by people who wanted to clear the game but didn't want to join the huge organization, they numbered around a 2,500 players.

The «Guilds» had a mobility that «The Army» lacked, using that mobility, they steadily grew stronger. Some of them were the very few who chose the merchant and craftsman classes, but they created guilds of their own and started training the skills that they would need to earn the «Col» they need to get by.

Then there were around 500 players, they are called the «Solo Players».

They were the selfish group who had decided that acting alone would be better for strengthening themselves and simply surviving.People said that some players from the «Beta Testing» or the «Beta Testers» choosed to become a «Solo Players» so that they can use the information that they had to themselves and level up quickly.

An additional feature of SAO was that there was no «Magic», in other words, there were no «long range attacks with a 100% accuracy rate», so one could fight large groups of monsters alone. If one had the required skills, playing solo was much more effective in getting experience points than party playing. Of course, there were a lot risks involved, risks that could even lead straight to death. And because of that, solo players actually had the highest fatality rate amongst all the players as of right now.But if you had the experience and knowledge to win through all this danger, there was a much better compensation for all this risk, and the «Beta Testers» had both of these things.

With this precious information the solo players leveled up at a fierce pace and a huge gap is slowly opening between them and the rest of the players.

The final and the FOURTH category, was consisted almost half of all players here in Aincrad, 40% or an estimate of 4,000 players. They were the ones who still wouldn't or just coudn't accept the conditions that Kayaba Akihiko had put forth and still waited for outside help.

Their plan of action was to «WAIT».

They didn't take a single step out of the city and used the money they had been allotted at the beginning of the game sparingly, buying only the food they needed to get through the day and finding cheap inns to sleep in, and walked around in groups spending each day without any thought.

And yes, I am one of them.

Secluding myself from everything, right now, I'm sitting next to a small window on a cheap room called «Tavion Inn» here in the «Town of Beginnings» that I rented on the 4th day of this game.

Fortunately for me, the «Frenzy Boars» that Asuna-san and I grinded on the first day gave me a fair amount of «Cols». I still haven't bought any equipments so I still have enough money to spend for food and shelter, well atleast for now.

As I watched all players and «NPCs» passing by each other above here in my room's window, you really won't be able to distinguish the difference between the two at first glance if not for the «Green Cursor» that floats above all the player's head indicating that they are alive, we are alive, somewhere out there in the real world.

That goes the same for the animals, objects, almost everything. The difference between «here» and the real world is simply hard to imagine.

This world, even though I know that it all became true, even though I already know that all the words that came out from Kayaba Akihiko that day is real, I just couldn't make myself to accept it.

Why? It's simple, I'm scared.

I'm afraid to die, it's simple as that.

Our real bodies would be lying on a bed or sitting in a chair fast asleep, that was reality and this situation was nothing but a fake.. And if there was even the smallest discovery, we might be able to get out..That's what I wanted to believe.

Of course, the «Log Out» button was gone, but there might be something that the creators of the game might have overlooked.. And outside, the company who ran the game, «Argus», would be trying harder than anyone to save the players..

«Wait», if we could just wait, we might be able to open our eyes, have a teary reunion with our family, and then return to school or work and this would all have been just something to talk about.

That way of thinking was the only reason why I refused to move, why I refused to fight.

Unlike the other players who is out there somewhere in this world fighting in order to survive, I just can't do the same. I don't want to die, so I'd rather sit here alone all day safe from any danger.. Safe from any threath of losing my HP.

That way I can safely wait for help to come and finally get out of this hell someday.

I know.I'm a coward.

I even forgot everything about my friends: Hiro and my guild mates that were also trapped here somewhere in this world..

..Or even «Asuna», the very first player that I got to know inside this world, I don't even know if they're all still alive now.

I abandoned all of them that day, I pushed away their existence and I ran away thinking only about myself, because of the pitiful reason that I'm scared.

I'm the worst.

When I first got into this world, I was amazed, amazed by everything..

I even thought I can play 'God' while I'm here.

And that was probably my punishment.

I thought I can control everything or even rule my own life here.. Until that 'man' showed up and slaps it in my face saying that that was not the case.

I think this goes the same for everyone. At first, we thought that this world was beautiful, a way to escape the reality... but the truth is, the reality here was far more horrid than we thought it was.

And as for me, everything in this world right now is nothing but a cage of fear for me, a fear that can destroy me anytime.

But still, I wan't to live.

I wan't to escape here. That's why I'm going to wait.

I'll wait no matter how long it takes until the help comes, and I will get out of here alive.

I'm going to escape this 'nightmare' once again no matter what it costs..

..Even if this is the worst thing that I would ever do, in my whole life.

\--

Next: Cheerful Smile


	6. Chapter 06 - Cheerful Smile

Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara

\--

«Nov 21, 2022 - 6:00 AM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«Town of Beginnings - Tavion Inn»

A beeping, but calm electronic sound of my alarm pulled me from my shallow sleep. I stopped it by hitting the button through guesswork and once again buried my face into my pillow, fighting the temptation to fall asleep again.

"Ugh darn it.. Five more minuuutes.."

Normally, that 'five more minutes' would simply gonna be extended to another 5 minutes, to 10 minutes until I lazily fall back on my sleep.

But that wasn't the case right now.

Realizing my current situation was different from 'normal', I somehow managed to wake up and resolved myself to get down on my bed.

I didn't got myself a 'shelter' right away when this death game initially started. Instead, I spent the entirety of my first four days sitting alone on a «wooden bench» back in the «Town Plaza», lifeless, not doing anything and sleep right there whenever it turned dark..

..I didn't even eat or consume anything, my whole existence was so blank that hunger never even bothered me that time.

And obviously, my presence on that bench for four straight days gave me some attention from a lot of nearby players, until a certain man showed up and approached me... a man named «Diavel».

Diavel is a kind man. When he first tried talking to me, I felt that he was actually concerned for a stranger like me.

He then asked the very obvious question: Why I am wasting my time at a place like that?

Of course I gave him my obvious answer: I'm afraid to die.

That answer from me was very obvious, but given the state that I am that time, to me, that mere concern alone is what actually saved me.

Diavel offered some help. I know that his intentions are not ill but still, I refused to accept it and I told him to just leave me alone.

But even though I chased him away, he still insisted that I should atleast get myself a shelter or room to keep myself not in open like that.

I tiredly conceded and accepted his help and thanks to him, I somehow got this place.. The rented room where I secluded myself from everything.

Right now, this cheap small room on the third floor of this inn was illuminated by the orange sunrise, the time was 6 in the morning.

I decided to open my «Menu» to take a quick look at my status. It became my habit on checking it every morning ever since the death game started.

After finding that nothing had changed, I decided to close and my «Menu» until I noticed the numbers below my «HP Bar» and «Status Bar», the 5-digit numbers that gradually decreases day by day and the one that gave me concern these past few days.

I decided not to fight, resolved myself to stay alive and safely wait for help to come no matter how long it takes..

..Yeah, no matter how long it takes, but how am I supposed to survive 'waiting' until that help comes?

I threw myself back on my bed as I grogilly muttered..

"I need Money."

\--

«7:15 AM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«Town of Beginnings - Town Plaza»

After a lot of thinking, I decided to just get some news first and head to the «Town Plaza», the place where it all began.

«Col», the currency here in Aincrad works exactly the same like the money on the real world. And as of now, I still have «12,023 Cols» remaining on my possession.

My rent costs about «3,000 Cols» per week. And if I remembered correctly, I only spent «2,500 Cols» for my food last whole week, so to sum it up, my weekly expense would be a total of «5,500 Cols».

In the mean time, given the remaining amount of money that I have right now, I think I can still last for two whole weeks.. But I really have to find a way on how to earn some money without fighting or else, I won't be able to survive waiting at this rate.

When I got into the plaza, I decided to head straight to the «1st Floor's Bulletin Board». It's a board that contains everything, news about the floor's situation, maps, labrynth status or any kind of general information that all players needed.

By now, countless of guilds and players are already getting stronger minute by minute with a single objective in their minds: To clear the game.

Almost 2,000 players had already died and three weeks had already passed since the game has started, but the «1st Floor's Labrynth», the place where the Boss of this floor resides and the only way to ascend to the next floor, has yet to be found.

While standing in front of the info board, I heared a couple of players walking past behind me, talking about something.

"Yeah, I heard that they didn't even stand a chance yesterday.." Said the man with a big and deep voice.

"So all those speech and flashy armors are for nothing huh? Six people wiped up just by a single forest monster, what the hell are they even doing?" Said the other guy next to him.

"They said it was a pack of wolves, I heared that it all came out from knowhere while their guard was down.. But still, was The Army really that weak?"

"The Army my ass. In the end, they're all just a bunch of idiots who can't do anything! At this rate, they're all gonna get killed before we even clear this floor, damn it."

It looks like some players from the «The Army» got wiped out from a monster yesterday.

"I knew it. All of this was just simply impossible." I muttered silently to myself.

Lost into my thoughts, I suddenly remembered the parting words of Diavel that day..

'P/N, I understand why you're afraid to make a move, I think all of us do. But did you really think that this was the best and the right thing to do? As for me, I don't think so, that's why I'm going to fight..'

The best and the right thing to do, huh.

"Suit yourself, I'm not planning on throwing my life that easily.. I'm gonna get out of here alive, that's the only thing that matters." I said to no one, with a bit of sting in my voice.

I continued scanning the Info Board but I couldn't find any useful information on how to gain money without fighting.

"Okay, what to do.."

Then the grumbling sound of my stomach responded to my own question, and I just remembered that I still haven't taken any breakfast yet.

I have to spend my remaining money properly from now on so I think a bread or two would do.

Yeah, a bread. Again.

\--

«7:45 AM»

I walked around casually until I succesfully found a nearby «NPC Bakery» to buy some food.

Inside the bakery, there is a «transparent glass divider» that can be seen from the outside that stores various types of breads.

"Uhm, hello? I wan't to buy something" I called out.

"Yeah comin'! What can I help you with young lad?" A short haired «NPC woman» responded to my call.

"Can I get 5 pieces of these Swi-..Sweet Buns?" I said, pointing to the bread displayed inside the glass divider.

After the NPC woman heared what I said, a «Floating Window» suddenly pops out right in front me. It showed the number of «Sweet Buns» and the total price for all of it, below it are the «Buy» and «Cancel» buttons.

"It's «70 Col's» each and «350 Col's» for 5 pieces." The NPC woman said.

I tapped the «Buy» button and right afterwards, the 5 pieces of «Sweet Buns» was automatically added directly into my «Item Storage».

"Thanks! Come again!" She gratefully said.

I walked my way back to the Plaza after that, and I took a seat on one of the benches around the area to in order to eat.

I opened my menu window and with a few taps, a piece of bread that I bought earlier materializes on my hand, and then I proceeded to help myself with the virtual food in order ease the hungry feeling in my head.

The virtual bread tastes suprisingly good for a cheap price, and just by eating two whole pieces of it, I already feel full.

"At least that solved my hunger problem for now.."

Then right after I said that, a cheerful voice of a little girl suddenly spoke to me, out of nowhere.

"Hey mister, where did you get those breads?"

I turned around from my seat only to see a little girl wearing a green sundress.. She has a short blonde hair and a pair of round orange eyes.

She's holding a what appears to be a large basket on her left hand and it is filled with some kind of.. vegetables? I think?

Judging by her appearance, she is a lot younger than me, and the thing that bothers me is the «Green Cursor» above her head, indicating that she's a «Player» just like me.

A Player this young?

"Uhm, I got it from a bakery near a clothes shop that way.." I answered her question by pointing to the store where I got the bread earlier.

"Near a clothes shop.. Near a clothes shop.. Near a clothes shooop... I can't see it from here!" She said as she faced towards the direction that I pointed.

"Well obviously, you won't see it from here."

"That's a problem.. I don't know where that clothes shop is.." She whiningly said

Okay, what to do..

Well, there's really nothing for me to do, so why not?

"Then, want me to guide you there?" I offered

Her face brighten up upon hearing me "Really? Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's not like I have anything to do.."

Like I said, I don't really have anything to do right now.. My money problem is yet to be solved, but I really don't know what I exactly needed to do right now.

"That's awesome then! Oh and by the way mister, my name's Aya!!" She said as she introduced herself to me as «Aya» with a big smile on her face.

"Is that your in-game-name or reaー"

"ーBoth!" She answered immediately, cutting halfway through my question.

"O-Oh, is that so.. My name is P/N then, nice to meet you, Aya-chan." I amusingly said back.

"Mm! nice to meet you too P/N-san!"

«8:15 AM»

I guided Aya back to the bakery where I got the «breads» earlier.

She bought a whopping 40 pieces of «Sweet Buns» for a total of «2,800 Cols», and they were all sent directly to her item storage.

After that, we started walking our way back to the Plaza where she spotted me earlier.

But still, did she really needed that many? I think they would all expire before she could even eat all of them.. And that basket, can't she just put away all those vegetables in her item storage instead of holding them like that? I wonder what's with that?

"Umm.. Aya-chan, that forty pieces of breads.. Can you really finish all of them? I think they would all expire before youー"

"ーNon non, it's not just for me.." Aya playfully replied, immediately.

"Not just for you?"

"It's for me, Mom, and Dad!"

Wait.. For her 'Mom' and 'Dad'?

"Your parents are here? In SAO?" I surprisingly asked.

"Yep! They're both here! And Dad even started a weapon shop here in the First Town just the other day!" She replied.

Just a quick info, some people likes to call the «Town of Beginnings» in a short term of «First Town»..

..But back to the main point, if both of her parents are here, then what in the world was a little girl like her doing here in SAO?

And then it finally hits me..

When you think about it, without Kayaba's rules, Sword Art Online was just only a game..

A brand new and revolutionary game that was meant to be enjoyed by any types of people: Gamers, casuals, teens, childrens, adults, or even a whole family.

But mainly because of that rules, this game had change from a mere 'fun game' into a 'prison of death'..

That's why seeing someone like Aya trapped in this world is just, too much.

"I-l see, Is that so.." After realizing all of that, I just can't find any good response on her cheerful behaviour.

"Aya-chan, how old are you?" I worriedly asked.

"I'm a Fourth Grader, 9 years old!"

My brows furrowed a bit on her reply.

We finally made it back to the bench that Aya spotted me earlier. I seated down once again, while Aya did the same and took the spot next to me.

"What about you P/N-san? How old are you?"

"I'm... 15."

"Are you also here with your Mom and Dad?"

I was lost in my thoughts that it took me for a moment to reply.

"..P/N-san?"

"..Ah no, my parents aren't here with me. But the thing is, I was supposed to be with some friends when this game started but, I lost them.."

Aya turned silent for a moment, and then I heard a small gasp from her.

"D-Did they all..?" She asked and the cheerful tone that she had earlier had quickly gone.

It looks like she got the wrong idea on what I said.

"Wait no..! It's not like that!" I immediately corrected myself.

"H-Huh?"

"What I mean when I lost them was, I coudn't find them.. When this game first started, I got lost and I coudn't find all of them.."

More like ーI'm so afraid to go outside the safe zone and find them, so I just decided to forget all of themー Reminding me how pathetic I am.

"Is that so.. So you're all alone now" She replied, the gloomy tone still present.

"Mm, yeah kinda" I nodded.

"For me, I both have Mom and Dad here with me so I don't really feel lonely even if our situation is really, scary..." Aya said "But for you P/N-san, you must be sad to be alone.." She added.

A gloomy and heavy atmosphere completely fills the air around us, and the cheerful and amusing attitude that this girl had had just earlier, is slowly vanishing.

But for some reason, I just can't let that happen..

"Welp, not really!" I suddenly said.

Aya turned to me confusedly "Eh?"

"Yeah, I'm not really that sad to be alone! In fact I actually like being alone!" I confidently added.

"B-But why? You can't talk or play with someone else if you're alone! So what's so happy about that?"

"ーNon non.. You see, I only have myself right? That means I don't have to worry about taking care someone else's butt! Isn't that great?" I replied, mimicking Aya's playful gesture earlier.

But of course, that wasn't true at all. I only said that to at least brighten the depressing feeling around her. Because I know it more than anyone else, I know how hard it is for someone to be alone in a situation like this... especially for someone like me.

And It looks like my attempt to brighten her mood again, worked at least bit.

But after hearing all my bragging, I definitely saw Aya cringed a bit..

"Eh? P/N-san, isn't that what they called, being irresponsible?" She said, eyebrows quirked.

"Uggh.." She got me there for a second.

Aya then started moving her finger to open her «Menu», she tapped some buttons and after a few moments, a piece of «Sweet Bun» that she bought earlier materializes on her hand.

"But why are you so against on taking care of someone? My Mom said that 'the more, the merrier'! So if you're always alone, I think that would be super sad!"

I found myself dumbfounded after hearing her.. Was that supposed to be a joke?

"Uhhm Aya-chan? I'm pretty sure that that wasn't the correct way to use that phrase.."

Ignoring my response, she proceded on taking a bite on the piece of bread that she's holding.

And after giving some thought, her words actually makes sense.. In a way.

"..Well right now, that 'the more, the merrier' thing, might be a good idea after all.." I said in a low tone.

"Right???" She said, still munching on the the bread that she's holding.

"But that only works if you have a lot of money!" I suddenly added.

"Huh, money?"

"Yeah, money!"

Aya ponders for moment before responding "Money huh. Well for us, Dad and Mom was making enough money for us to get by, and there's also the shop! So money is not actually a big problem for us anymore.." Aya stated.

"Ahh, you said earlier that you're Dad just opened a shop right?"

"Yeah just last week! It's a weapon shop!" She said.

A weapon shop huh.

"..Must be good to have a stable Col income while waiting for help.." I said, not realizing that I said the last part out loud.

"Mm? Are you having some problems with money P/N-san?" She curiously asked upon hearing what I said.

"W-Well yeah, a bit."

Then the next question that she asked completely frozed me.

"Can't you just hunt some monsters outside? Mom said you can get a lot of money even from the weakest monsters out there..."

I only remained silent.

"...They always leave me in our inn before, but Mom and Dad used to hunt monsters outside for money, until they both saved up enough to get us a cheap small house right here in the first town..."

Aya shifted from her seat and turned to face me curiously.

"...So why P/N-san isn't doing the same?"

Aya patiently waited for my reply, but I suddenly couldn't look at her eye to eye.

I wanted to say that even the smallest possibility of dying while fighting the smallest monsters here, scares me..

I wanted to say that the only thing that I can do right now, was to wait..

But I can't. I coudn't possibly tell all that to her, for it's only reminding me how weak and pathetic I am.

So I lowered my head sideways, hoping to escape her question.

"Y-Yeah it's true that you can get a lot of money from monsters outside, but fighting might be bit..." I couldn't even finish myself.

"Huh?" She only stared at me, confused.

Silence slowly loamed around us again, until Aya started talking again.

"Hmmm now that I remembered..." She said, as she puts a finger on her chin as if in a thinking-manner "...P/N-san, you said that you need money right?" She suddenly asked.

"Yeah"

"I just remembered that Dad is looking for an assistant for our shop!"

"A-Assistant?" I confusedly replied.

"Yep! You see, it just opened not too long ago, and I heared that Dad has a lot of things needed to finish first for the shop, so he was actually looking for some kind of assistant or something..." She explained, as I became a bit open mouthed upon hearing everything that she explained.

"...He will pay you of course!" She continued "...I just don't know the details about it cause I only overheared it last night, but if you wan't to, you can just ask Dad himself if you come over to our shop! You need money right?"

What a turn of events. I just met a little girl and then suddenly, she's offering me a job.. And a job is what I actually needed right now.. But still..

"Wait for sec Aya-chan.."

"Hmm?"

"Why are you offering me something like this? I'm just a stranger to you, so why are youー"

Then again, she quickly cutted halfway through my words.

"ーP/N-san is not a stranger, P/N-san is.. well.. P/N-san! Right?"

"Huh? That doesn't make sense! Why are trusting a person you've barely know?" I palmed my face as I explained exactly my words.

"Hmm 'why' you say.. Well, P/N-san helped me with the breads earlier right? Just think of that as my thanks! And besides, I think you're not a bad person at all so I think it's all okay!" She replied in her usual, cheerful attitude.

"With that only reason?!"

"Ahhmmm.. Yeah!!"

"But stillー"

"ーArgh you're so whiny P/N-san! You need money right? COOOLS?" She interrupted my words once again, now in bit annoyed.

I can only scratch my head in response.

"Okay, what to do.."

Her offer seems worth it, and just like I said earlier, money is one of the problems that I am facing right now..

So after gathering my thoughts for a moment, I decided to give her an answer.

"Ok! I guess i'll give it a try.."

"Alright! It's decided then!"

I can only smile at her reaction. Seriously, the cheerful attitude of this kid never failed to amuse me.

"That reminds me, you said that your house and your Dad's shop are just near here in the plaza right?"

"Yep! Just follow me! Yay!"

She quickly stood up from her seat and dragged me along towards the plaza's exit.

Aya's offer might be a good way to get some income without involving any fighting for me...

...I just hope that everything turns out okay.

\--

Looking back now..

I couldn't help but wonder..

I couldn't help but wonder on what would've happened if I only refused the job, the job that the cheerful girl named "Aya" had offered to me that day...

Maybe.. It could've prevented everything, prevented everything that was fated to happen.

Maybe.. That thing, that thing didn't have to come...

Just a simple wish.

If I only declined all her good intentions that day...

And if I only, didn't choose to be weak...

...Aya might still be alive now.

\--

Next: Family


	7. Chapter 07 - Family

Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara.

\--

«Nov 21, 2022 - 9:00 AM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«Town of Beginnings»

It's already nine in the morning as the whole town was slowly being filled with numerous Players and NPCs doing their jobs, necessities, or daily tasks that they needed in order to survive a another day here.

As for me right now, Aya, the golden-haired little girl that I met earlier, is currently guiding me to their 'shop' and home to ask his Dad about the job that she mention earlier.

Acording to Aya, her Dad is supposedly looking for an assistant to help him for his newly opened «Weapon Shop».. And after hearing my money problems, she suggested that I should talk to her Dad and ask him to hire me.

And It's just like what Aya said.. Their home was really close to the plaza because just after 4 minutes of walking, we easily reached our destination.

The «Town Plaza» is the place where all information, shops and other important stuffs are all gathered. That's why getting a «house» and opening a «Weapon Shop» here was really a good decision from Aya's parents.

The outside structure of their home is very cozy, it is a two story building and made out mostly of «wood» materials aside from what looks like a wide «glass window» right beside the main door. The bottom floor is probably where her Dad's «Weapon Shop» is and the upper floor must be their main room.

I decided to take a closer look near the glass window to take a peek inside... and my initial thoughts was right as I saw a lot of «weapons» like «swords», «spears» and even «armors» hat can be seen here from the outside.

"Come on P/N-san, let's get inside" I was busy examining the room from the outside when Aya spoke to me.

"A-Ah mm yeah.." I replied.

I suddenly realized that this was actually the very first time in my life that I would apply for a job (even though this is just a in-game-job) so when Aya opened the door for both of us, nervousness finally hits me.

We both entered and I got a good look on how the whole room looks inside: The whole room is very wide and just like what I said, various weapons and armors are already displayed almost everywhere..

But I also noticed that the whole shop really looks kind of a bit 'incomplete' or kind of 'unorganized'.. Some weapons are still yet to be displayed, scattered around and lying on the floor alongside with some piles of materials or some kind of «metals» required for crafting that still probably haven't sorted out carefully.

From the looks of it, this shop really requires some heavy organizing as it really had just opened not too long ago.. And this is probably the reason why Aya's Dad is looking for some kind of helper.

"But where did your Dad got all of these? Is he a blacksmith or something?" I asked her.

"B-Brack-smith? Mm yeah I guess he is.." She replied, probably not understanding the term that I used.

Behind the counter is where the stairs located and next to it is a another door leading up to a new room, probably their «kitchen» or probably even his Dad's «blacksmith shop».

"Phew.. Finally home." Aya said as she placed down the basket that she was holding ever since I met her earlier in the wide table nearby.

The basket contains of what looks like a mix of «fruits» and «vegetables».

"Umm Aya-chan, what exactly are that?" I finally asked, out of curiosity.

"Fruits and Vegetables" She simply replied.

"Y-Yeah I know.. I mean, you were holding that ever since we met earlier right? What are they for?" I asked further.

"Ahh, I get these from Aunt Anna's house near the plaza earlier.." She answered "I think Mom needed them as an ingredients for something, and for some reasons, I'm not actually allowed to put all of these inside my «Inventory», that's why I have to carry it all myself all the way home" She continued, pouting a bit on the last part.

Now that explains on why she was 'carrying' it, but it still confuses me on why she can't put it all on her inventory, I wonder what's the reason.

"Ahh I see.. But Ingredients for what? For food?" I asked once again.

But the one who answered me wasn't Aya at all..

"No, actually, those are the ingredients for making HP Potions.."

It was a voice coming from an adult woman... and after that, a figure slowly appeared coming down from upstairs.

"Mom!" Aya blurted out.

It turns out that the woman is actually her Mom. She had a short hair just like Aya, but in a dark one instead of blonde. She's probably on her late 20's or early 30's based on her «avatar's» look and appearance.

"Is that your Mom? Aya-chan?" I asked her in a low and almost whispering way.

"Yep!"

Her Mom headed towards the opposite side of the table where Aya placed the basket down.

"These fruits actually contains something that was required for crafting «Potions»" She said as she picked up one of the contents to examine it.

"W-Wait really? You can craft Potions with those things?" I surprisingly asked because I didn't really know up until now that you can actually craft «Potions» in this game.

"Yeah, but the method is not really well known because the process on crafting it was really, not easy.." She answered "..These items are a bit different from the fruits and vegetables that you can normally get in this game, these are not edible and the most annoying thing about them was you can't store them inside a player's inventory at all.." She added and explained the itmes that she was holding.

It's for game balance, I think..

"I think, that's probably for the game balance" I said "I mean, just imagine the things that you can do if you can freely store them in your inventory" I added.

"Haha yeah, that's what I thought too.." She replied.

"..By the way, may I ask who you are? Are you Aya's friend?"

She suddenly followed with that question, making me jumped a bit as my nervousness switches on once again.

"U-Uhm no I'mー"

"ーHis name is P/N Mom! I met him earlier!" Aya interrupted and answered for me before I could even finish.

"Oh P/N huh? I'm Aya's mother, my name is Amaya. Nice to meet you P/N-kun" She smiled as she introduced herself as «Amaya».

"Same here, Amaya-san" I politely replied.

"So... what brings you here today?" She asked.

"Uhm, actuallyー"

"ーP/N-san came here to ask Dad if he can work here!"

Aya being Aya, she once again interrupted and answered for me.

"Work here? Is that right P/N-kun?" Her mom turned to me to confirm.

"Umm yes it is.. That's actually my purpose for being here.." I politely answered as I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.

Amaya-san puts a finger into her chin as she gathered her thoughts for a moment.

"Mm, It's true that Dad is in need of assistance in the shop right noー Wait.. How did you know about that Aya?" Her brows furrowed a bit and turned to her daughter.

"Ehe-hehehe.." Aya slowly turned sideways in response to her Mom.

It seems like Aya really just overheard everything from her parents.. Seriously, this kid..

"Well, it's true that Dad is in need for some assistance.." Amaya-san said as she turned her eyes at me "..And he's actually planning on looking for someone later.. today.. but.."

She trailed her words upon noticing something from me.. And then began examining my face for a few moments.

"..Aya, where did you and P/N-kun met earlier?" She turned and asked her daughter.

"In the Plaza.. P/N-san helped bought me those breads that Dad asked earlier!"

I wonder what it is now..

"Hmm.. I think I get it now.." She muttered to herself, but loud enough for me to hear it.

I'm really getting nervous again, I wonder what really it is..

"Umm.. Amaya-san? Is there something wrong? I anxiously asked.

"No, no, it's nothing.." She simply replied "..P/N-kun just wait here, Ill go get my husband in the back"

"O-Ok.."

"Aya, wait here with P/N-kun got it?"

"Yess Mom!" Her daughter next to me replied.

Amaya-san headed to the room that I mentioned earlier to call her husband.

"You seemed a bit nervous P/N-san" Aya said after noticing my behaviour.

"Aha-haha yeah, a bit.."

"Don't worry, Mom and Dad are both reaaally nice so just tell them that you need a work and I'm sure you will be fine!"

"..I hope so, Aya-chan" I simply replied

Yeah I really do hope so. Because this is probably my one and only chance right now to get a job... a job that doesn't involve fighting.

Minutes felt like an hour, and after a few more moments, Amaya-san finally came back along with her husband.

"Now this is it.. Don't screw it now.. Don't screw it now.." I said silently to myself to calm my nerves..

..But I heard Aya snickered a bit as she probably heard all my muttering.

One of the «Sword Art Online's» feature is that our «avatar» here looks almost axactly the same as our body in the real world. The built, the height and even our face, the «NerveGear» replicated all of them almost perfectly..

..So the moment that I saw Aya's Dad, the first thing that I noticed is the fact that he's not a Japanese player at all, at least based on his «avatar's» appearance.

He has a well-built body, blonde hair just like Aya and he's qprobably around the same age as his wife.

"Ah. It's really him.." I heard him said in a deep, low tone as he examined me from a far while they are both heading towards us, to me and Aya.

I wonder what's with that.. That also happened earlier with Amaya-san, do they know me?

They stopped at the opposite side of the table and Aya's Dad finally speak up

"Kid, you wanna work here?"

"Uhm yes sir, I'm actuallyー

"ーJust call me Marco." He interrupted.

"Oh.. Y-Yeah ok. I'm P/N, Marco-san" I politely replied.

"Ok P/N.. So, you wanna work here?" He asked once again.

I need to be carefull with my answers.. I need this.. I need money to survive.. So I better not screw this up..

"Uhm yeah, I met Aya earlier and she said that you're looking for someone to help you with your shop.." I said as I started explaining myself "..I'm really in need for some source income right now, so I decided to try and come here to kind of... apply for the job" I continued.

Marco-san pondered for a moment before he responded "Hmm, It's true that I'm looking for.. -Wait a minute.. How did you know about that Aya?"

"..Yeah, I already asked that earlier.." Amaya-san wearily said next Marco-san.

"Aha-haha-haha.. W-Well, I kind of heard you talking with Mom about that last night.." Aya turned sideways once again as she awkwardly explained herself.

Marco-san can only sigh and palmed his forehead on his daughter's response "Well.. It can't be helped then, this is Aya that were talking after all.." He said in a tone of defeat.

The blonde kid next to me only laughed meekly on his Dad's remarks while Amaya-san only sighed in response..

It seems like Aya's attitude was also a bit overwhelming even for her parents.. Seriously, what a kid..

"We should go upstairs and discuss everything there. It's a lot more comfortable there than here." Marco-san said.

"Follow us P/N-kun" Amaya-san said, and we all moved upstairs.

Once we got to their «main room», Aya made me sit on their «couch» while Amaya-san took the spot next me, there is also «wooden table» in front of us that seperates both Aya and Marco-san that were seated on the other couch.

"Back to the main point.." Marco-san said, continuing the discussion earlier.

"..As you can see, there are still a lot of mess 'down' there that needed to be sorted out, so It is true that I am looking for someone to help me here in starting our shop. I'm actually planning on going outside later to find and hire someone, so I'm really surprised when Aya brought here one this early, but still... " He trailed as he took a quick glance on her wife that were sitting next me.

"...but out of all people, who would've thought that it would be 'you'.."

Now, I am seriously confused.. Did they know me?

"Uhm Marco-san, I'm sorry but I don't follow.. What exactly do you mean by that?" I anxiously asked.

"The thing is.. We've actually met you before, P/N-kun" Amaya-san answered my question.

"H-Huh? We've met before? B-But I don'tー" I asked, surprised.

"ーThird day of this game, in the plaza's bench, we've met you there before." Marco-san answered this time.

Third day when this game started...

"O-Oh, I see.." I replied, finally making sense about everything.

The «wooden bench» in the Town Plaza, the place where I first decided on giving up everything... until Diavel showed up.

I already mentioned this earlier, but that was the place where I spent the entirety of my first four days on this game. I haven't eaten and literally done nothing back then... my head was at complete state of fear that hunger and other things doesn't even bothered me during that time.

That was probably the reason why I couldn't remember Marco-san and Amaya-san at all..

I do remember that a 'lot' of people have tried to talking to me, maybe out of concern or curiosity, but I just decided to ignore all of them because I am so afraid about the thought that I may lose my life anytime..

Marco-san and Amaya-san was probably one of those people, only to be ignored by me.. So there's really no surprise if I can't even remember them at all.

"I.. I'm sorry Marco-san but.. I can't really rememー"

"ーNo don't apologize, it's okay if you don't remember.." He reassuringly said.

"We thought that you might need some help so we both tried talking to you back then, but you gave us no response at all.." Amaya-san said next to me.

I knew it. They're both one of the few people who tried lending me some help back then.. I just wish that I can remember them, but I guess that's really impossible right now..

I don't really care anything aside from my own safety during that time... (well, that still didn't changed even now) so how could I possibly remember them if I haven't even looked at their faces?

"I.. I was in complete mess that time, so I can't really remember anything or anyone who tried to talking to me back then.." I said as I shifted my gaze down

"It's ok, don't force yourself to remember. We understand." Amaya-san said.

I can only look at her in response.

Aya on the other hand, was just intently listening on us and she looks very confused about everything.

"Mm.. I kind of got the gist of your situation, P/N-kun.." Marco-san said "You said that you needed some source for money, but.." He trailed.

"..But we all know that working on a shop like this, isn't really the best idea on doing that, right?" He added.

And I just remained silent after that, and I can clearly tell what he's going to say next..

"P/N.. You're afraid on going 'outside', aren't you?" Marco-san continued.

I slightly clenched my fist upon hearing him, but not because of what he said... but because my pitiful self.

I got the feeling that I should be at least, honest with them, so I tried mustering myself and answered.

"Y-Yes.."

I felt both of their sympathetic looks on me upon hearing my answer.

"..W-What do you mean afraid of outside?" Probably couldn't take anymore confusions, Aya suddenly speak up "..P/N-san what does that mean?" She asked in her very unusual, worried tone.

Amaya-san worriedly turned to her daughter, probably because of her question "ーAya?!!"

Marco-san and Amaya-san both seems to be a good people.. And given that they had tried giving me some help before only strengthen that point.

..And Aya, if I hadn't met her earlier, I probably wouldn't be even here right now to get this chance on solving my problem.

So for some unexplainable reasons, It makes me want to explain everything to them.. It makes me want to open myself to them..

"..It's okay, Amaya-san." I said to her.

She only gave me a worried look after that.

"..Aya-chan, you asked me earlier right? On why I am not hunting monsters outside to earn money, like your Mom and Dad.."

She nodded.

"..The thing is, I am afraid to go outside, outside of the safe zone.." I continued "..I don't want to fight because I'm afraid that even at a smallest mistake, It would cost my... my life."

Aya to recoiled a bit upon hearing what I said, but I continued..

"I'm.. I'm afraid of dying. I fear it to the point that just imagining myself dying here, or just imagining myself not making it out here is making me, crazy.." I continued.

Both Marco-san and Amaya-san intently listened on me, while Aya was slightly open mouthed as she continued hearing my words.

"That's why I decided that I... that I'm never going outside. I decided that I would just 'wait' until the help arrives, or at least until someone finally beat this... this h-hell.."

My voice is slowly becoming erratic as I continued explaining everything to them.

"..I know. I know that what I'm doing is very, very wrong. And I know that in other people's perspective, I'm just a coward.. They're not wrong.. B-But I couldn't help it.. I just.. I just d-don't want toー"

"ーThat's enough, P/N.. It's ok, You have said enough."

Marco-san interrupted me, sympathetically.

"He's right P/N-kun. It's okay don't push yourself, we already understand.." Amaya-san said as she tapped my shoulder in a comforting manner.

And I slowly beginning to understand on why I got the urge to tell everything to them... to open my 'fear' to them..

"I'm.. I'm so sorry P/N-san! I'm very, very sorry!"

Aya suddenly blurted, apologetically, probably regreting the question that she asked earlier.

"It's okay Aya-chan, you have nothing to apologize." I reassuringly replied.

"P/N, you're still a kid, so it's not surprising if you feel that way.." Marco-san said "..And It looks like aside from that, you also have some 'serious' things going on your back." He added, sympathetically.

"..Mm, yeah. A lot.." I simply replied, understanding what he meant.

"You said earlier that you're aware that what your doing is not the 'right' thing... am I right?"

I nodded slightly in response.

"Well, that's actually true. I mean, I think there's no one else in this world that is actually not afraid on dying.." He said "..But still, they all decided to risk their lives just to beat this game, this 'crappy game that's been keeping us here.." He added.

"..'Wait' huh, just simply wait until the help arrives.. It's true that what you've been doing all this time, is 'not' correct.."

I can only remain silent as he continued his words, for it's only reminding me how pathetic I am.

"Yeah, it's definitely not correct. But let me just say this to you, P/N..." Marco-san trailed here..

"...Cherishing your own life is not, and will never be wrong. Remember that."

Wide eyed, I lifted my head upon hearing the last part.

"P/N, I can clearly understand what you've been going through right now.. Trust me, I know that feeling very well.." He sightly smiled as he continued "..And to tell you the truth, that was actually the reason why I decided opening a shop." He added.

"W-What do you mean?" I asked.

"Clear the game... that's what that 'bastard' told us to do in order to get out of here, right?"

I nodded.

"You see, I've always wanted to help doing that... but at the same time, I'm also afraid on losing my life, I'm afraid on dying and leaving my wife and daughter here alone.." He said as I continued listening to him.

"..That's why I decided on becoming a Blacksmith and built this shop... I wanted to at least contribute on freeing everyone by supporting and helping other Players... while still being here, next to my family."

I became slightly open mouthed by his words as he continued.

"Looking at you, I think deep down, you also feel the same way as me.. But because of your 'fear', you're way too afraid on making a move.."

"..That's why if it's alright with you P/N, I want you to work here with me. That way, not only we can wait for outside help to come, but we can also help everyone by supporting them at the same time.. How about that?"

I jolted up from my seat upon hearing him.

"W-Whaー ..Really?!"

Marco-san laughs a bit after seeing my reaction.

"Hahaha.. That's the reason why you're here in the first place right?" He said.

"W-Well.. Yeah, but is it okay with you guys?" I asked.

"Of course, I just told you right? Well that's only if you wanted to... if you have changed your mind already, that's also okay" He answered.

"NO! I m-mean.. YES! I wan't to work here! Please!" I answered hurriedly.

Amaya-san smiled next to me "It's decided then."

After all the things that I confessed to them, I was actually expecting that they will turn me down.. But they didn't, and it seems like they really understand my situation, especially Marco-san, which is I'm really thankful about right now.

The depressing atmosphere around us is slowly disappearing as Aya suddenly and blurted out something.

"Yay!! P/N-san is gonna work here now!" Aya said as she jumped from her seat.

"Haha! Aren't you a bit too excited about this Aya? You looked much more excited than P/N" Marco-san said, making Amaya-san laugh.

"N-No.. I'm actually excited.. I mean, happy too!" I immediately responded "I'm just a bit speechless, but thank you.. Thank you very much for letting me work here!" I said as I lowered my head to show my gratitude.

"Don't worry Dad! I'm sure P/N-san will do a great job working here! Believe me!" Aya said as she turned to her Dad.

"Yeah I bet he will. But it's all actually thanks to you Aya, I didn't have to look for someone anymore since you already brought P/N here." Marco-san said.

He's right. I'm not going to be here if not because of Aya.. So I seriously have to thank that kid later as I really owe her this.

"Now that I think about it, where did you two met earlier?" Marco-san asked.

"ーIn the plaza Dad! P/N-san helped me buy those breads that you asked me earlier!" Aya answered, in her usual tone.

She then opened her «Menu Window» and after a few taps, the «Sweet Buns» that she bought in the plaza with me earlier materializes and she places it down in the table in front of us.

"Woah! Good job Aya! I really love thi..ーWait, did you tried going home alone?"

Marco-san's tone changed after realizing that her daughter may had probably tried going home on her own.

"W-What?? Anna's brother was supposed to walk you home!! What happened??" The change of tone in Amaya-san was also present.

Busted, Aya slowly turned back on her seat earlier.

"Uhmm.. Is Aya-chan wasn't supposed to be alone in the plaza earlier?" I asked.

"No, of course she's not. I wasn't actually planning on letting her go earlier in the first place.." Amaya-san started explaining "..As you can see, we have a lot of things to do here since we just opened the shop, and I really needed that 'ingredients' earlier so Aya insisted on helping us.." She continued.

"..I really appreciated her thoughts as so I decided to let her go. And besides Anna, my bestfriend, was also with her when they leave here this morning.. So I thought that it would be fine since she's with her.." Amaya-san added.

"Anna also said that she would make her brother walk Aya back home.." Marco-san said this time "..That's why I asked her to buy those breads for us since she won't be alone in the plaza anyways.. But it looks like that didn't really happened at all."

Aya only scratched her hair in response "Aunt's brother wasn't there when we came back to their house earlier.. And it looks like she had a lot of things to do so I decided to just go home alone since I know the way anyway.. And that's where I met P/N-san.." She continued.

It seems like Aya wasn't actually supposed to go home alone earlier.. This finally clears my worry about her being in the «Town Plaza» by herself alone.

"But still Aya, you should've waited and you shouldn't have gone home alone, didn't we told you that earlier??" Amaya-san said, clearly worried.

Aya only nodded after that.

"Aya, don't ever do that again okay? You hear me?" Marco-san turned to her daughter.

"Yes Dad, Mom.. I'm sorry.." She replied, sincerely.

"Well P/N.. This is actually one of the reason on why I wanted to hire someone. I want someone to look after her while we are working because as you can see, she can be a bit uncontrollable sometimes." Marco-san said turning to me.

"W-What do you mean by uncontrollable Dadー" Aya tried to speak but was interrupted after Marco-san patted her head playfully.

"Aha-ahaha.. It's ok, you can leave her to me Marco-san." I replied.

While watching both Marco-san and Aya-chan like that... it's reminding me how close I am to my 'Mom' back when I was a little kid..

Back then, Mom always used to play with me whenever I wanted.. So seeing Aya and Marco-san like this really makes me happy... but a bit lonely at the same time.

"Must be nice to have a family... at a time like this." I said to myself silently.

But it looks like Amaya-san heared what I just said "What are you saying P/N-kun, from now on you will be a part of this family too.."

I can only look at her in response.

"..H-Huh?"

"She's right P/N. From now on you will be working here everyday, with us, with this family.. So let us both do our best from now and get out of here someday, with us." Marco-san encouragingly said this time.

My heart raced as I absorbed their words.

Those words.. Those are the words that I've always wanted to hear all this time..

And I finally understood why I didn't even hesitated telling them about me earlier..

Ever since this death game had started, I was alone, alone and afraid.

That's probably why I unconsciously searched for some kind of warmth... some kind of comfort.

I wanted for someone to tell me that it's going to be okay.. I wanted for someone to tell me that everything would be fine..

A Family. Who would've thought that a person like me would be so lucky to meet someone like them at a time like this.

This might be a chance for a new start for me.. That's why I have to do my best from now on, as much as I can..

..So I could finally get out of here someday, with them.

"Yes!! I'll do my best!!"

\--

Next: New Start


	8. Chapter 08 - A New Start

Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara.

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«Nov 25, 2022 - 8:30 AM»

«Aincrad - 1st Floor»

«Tavionn Inn - P/N's Room»

It's already past 8 in the morning when I woke up.

After quickly preparing myself, I left my rented room and headed towards Aya's house, my work.

It's been four days since I met Aya and started working at their shop. All things that needed to be finished and arranged around their shop has already been done and the business are finally getting started..

Almost everything that you'd do in this game are very simplified, so the things that I do around there are very simple and nothing special at all: Helping around whenever there was a customer, or tending out for the shop itself whenever Marco-san is out.

Marco-san was still leveling his skills in «blacksmithing» so assisting him on forging new equipments are also one of my job. He's also teaching me some few things about «blacksmithing» so I'm actually learning some new skills while working there.

While Marco-san is the one managing the shop, Amaya-san on the other hand is continuously honing her skills on crafting «Potions» that she also sells in the shop. I'm also helping her out sometimes by getting some ingredients she needed that Aya used to do before.

Outside Aincrad, Marco-san and Amaya-san are both 'Customer Service Agents' in the real world.

Being both of them as an 'avid gamers', Marco-san said that they also met each other in an online game before. They got their copy of the «Sword Art Online» because of his brother. Marco-san said that his brother works in «Argus» so he used his connections to get three copies for them.

The plan was for the three of them to play in the «Launch Day», but mainly because his brother is an employee in «Argus», he couldn't able to play with them.

That's where their 9 year old daughter, Aya, insisted on playing in her uncle's place.

Without any idea that everything will go dissaray just the next few hours, they unknowingly allowed their daughter to use the «NerveGear»... the decision that Marco-san bloodily regreted every day and every night.

'If I could only exchange my own life for the sake of my daughter and my wife's freedom here, I would gladly do it..'

Those are the words that Marco-san remorsefully said to me when he told me their story... showing how much regret he is feeling up to this day.

They're all kind person. They're all kind to me. Even though my situation isn't different from theirs, they accepted me. They accepted me even though they knew how broken I am, they've given me the warmth that I badly needed ever since this hell started..

..And as the days passed, I am slowly starting to get used in this new kind of lifestyle. I just hope that all these good things would last... at least until we all finally get out of here.

«8:50 AM» «Aincrad - First Floor» «Santos Residence»

I finally reached their home and when I was about to open the door, I noticed that there are two players outside the shop peeking curiously inside through the «glass window»..

They're both murmuring and whispering something to each other that I can't really comprehend.

The two of them got startled at the same time the moment that I started speaking.

"Uhmm, do you need something?" I asked them.

The skinny guy who's probably on his late teens turned and answered me.

"D-Do you live here?" He fidgetly answered me with another question as I noticed that the atmosphere around them are somewhat, very weird.

"No, but actually work here.." I simply replied.

"Oh. S-So you work here.." Said the other guy beside him this time. He has a very curled hair and he's also a bit smaller compared to his companion.

"Do you need something? Wanna come in?" I said.

"N-No.. Were leaving, thanks.." Said the skinny one as he waved both of his hands to decline.

The two of them turned back and started walking away after that, while still murmuring something into each other.

Even though this game is already running for almost four weeks now, both of them are still equipped with the «beginners weapon» given for all players back in the first day.

They probably wanted to go inside the shop to ask for some cheap weapons that a weak players can afford, but are only too shy to ask.. That would've make sense based on their awkward behavior earlier.

I just shrugged it off and I finally entered inside the shop as I saw a another man, probably a customer talking to Marco-san in the counter.

The armor that he is wearing shows that this man is a member of the «TheArmy» that I mentioned before.

As I was trying to listen on what they're talking about, Aya cheerfuly greeted me while she's walking down from upstairs "Good Morning P/N-san!"

"Mornin' too Aya-chan" I greeted back.

"You came here a bit late today, is there something wrong?" She asked a bit worried upon noticing my late arrival.

"No it's nothing, just woke up a bit late.." I replied reassuringly.

After that, I saw the man in the counter started walking his way outside the shop.

"Good morning Marco-san, was that a customer?" I asked.

"Good morning too P/N. Yeah he's customer, he actualy puts a request for a «custom made» equipments.." He answered while staring at the two «floating windows» in front of him.

"Woah.. A custom made? That's awesome! What kind of equipment?" I asked curiously.

"A «Spear» and «Shield».. He already paid for the labor and for the materials gathering in a seriously, very large sum but.." He trailed.

"Is there a problem?" I asked.

"Look at this.." He answered as he swipped the two «floating windows» in front of me.

"These are the materials?" I said after examining them.

"Yeah.. This is actually the second time that I will be doing a «custom made» equipment. And you probably know my skills by now, these two are actually not that hard to make. The materials are also pretty easy to gather, except for that one, the «Violatite».." He said.

I checked the «floating windows» once again.

"Both spear and shield requires 10 Violatites in each of them, so a total of 20. That's a lot huh.." I said.

"The truth is, Violatites are kind of rare.. But they're actually not that hard to find, they're just really hard to obtain.." Marco san explained.

"What does that mean?"

"..You can mine Violatites in a cave inside of «Viola Village», a village just in the South-East outside of First Town. But obtaining them are seriously, very annoying because all players can only obtain '5' pieces of Violatites per day.." He added.

"Ahh, so obtaining them is time-gated by the system huh, no wonder they're so rare.." I said.

"I need exactly 'four days' in order to get enough Violatites for forging them.. But the thing is, the client said he needs the equipments as soon as possible tomorrow.."

"W-What? Tomorrow!?" I surprisingly said.

"Yeah, that's actually one of the reason why he paid a huge sum.."

It's just as Marco-san said, he needed 'four days' in order to get enough materials for the weapons.. But how are we gonna do that if the client already wants the weapon tomorrow?

"What are we gonna do then?" I asked in a worried tone.

Marco-san looked at me before he answered.

"Of course I do have a plan. But I really need your help P/N in order for this to work.." He said.

"O-Okay, what should do then?" I quicky replied.

"Each players can only obtain five Violatites per day. So If I go to Viola Town today, I can get '5' pieces today and '5' pieces tomorrow if I stayed there for tonight until tomorrow morning..." He trailed here.

"That's a total of 10, you still..ーOh." I stopped after realizing what he meant.

He just nodded at me after seeing my reaction.

"If you come with me in Viola today P/N, we can get enough Violatites and finish the equipments exactly tomorrow." He said.

All that Marco-san had just said is probably the only way for us to finish the weapon in time but..

"..Marco-san, you know I am very grateful to you when you accepted me here, and I would do as much as I can in order to repay that but.." I said in a worried tone "..But you also already know my situation right? So if we go to that cave today, I probaー"

"ーYes P/N, I know.. No need for you to worry" He interrupted and smiled.

"..H-Huh?"

"The «cave» where the stones are is actually inside the Viola Town.. If its inside the town, that means it is 'also' inside the «Safe Zone», meaning there are no monsters there and we didn't even have to fight at all.." He explained trying reassure me.

"W-What, really?" I asked surprisingly.

"Yeah" He simply said back.

"If that's the case, I'll definitely go then.. I'll gladly help." I immediately replied.

"I told you this before right P/N? That I understand your situation, I really do. I wouldn't have accepted this request if I know that the situation isn't gonna work.." He said as he put an arm to my shoulder.

It looks like Marco-san really think this through... just for me.

"Thank you Marco-san. And I'm really sorry for this.. For being selfish." I said apologetically.

"It's ok P/N, don't apologize."

I am really indebted to them a lot. So I have to repay them for all of this someday... and for now, this is the least that I can do.

"It looks like were leaving the shop to Amaya-san just for today." I said.

"Actually, No.."

"Huh?"

"The thing is, Amaya is actually going to Viola today even if we didn't got a request.." He answered.

"Really? If that's the case then.."

"..No I can't, she has something very important to do in Viola today. Mining violatites are very hard and very time consuming... so if I take her with me to the cave instead of you, she wouldn't be able to finish the business that she needed to do there in the first place.." He explained.

"Oh is that so.. Then what is it that Amaya-san really need to do there?"

"I have to finish a quest there.."

The one who answered my question was Amaya-san, who was walking down from upstairs.

"Good morning Amaya-san" I greeted "A quest?" I added.

"Good morning too P/N-kun.. There is a quest inside Viola Town that rewards a «Recipe» in crafting «Advanced Potions»" She answered.

"Potions? Didn't you already know how to craft them?"

"Yeah I do, but the Potions that I can make are no different from the ones that you can also buy in NPC Stores here. They are all very slow to effect and not really that strong.." She explained "..But if I got my hands on that «Advance Recipe», it would not be easy, but I will finally be able to craft Potions that are fast, and much more effective." She added.

Just like what Amaya-san said, the «Potions» that she can make are also available in some «NPC Shop's» here.. But instead, Amaya-san are selling them in a much more cheaper price as a help for the all the Players here.

But those potions have some downsides, they are very slow to affect and their taste are incredibly, very terrible... making them very unpopular to some wealthy players compared to the «Healing Crystals» that has a greater effects and even heals instantly.

"I'm not capable of completing that quest for myself before because I'm still too weak, but I'm gonna give it a try today again." She added.

"Hmm.. Ok I understand now.." I said.

"Both of you, looks like you have some business in Viola Town too?" She turned and asked her husband.

"Yeah, here." Marco-san answered.

He swiped the two «floating windows» in Amaya-san's direction and then explained everything.

"I see.. I guess we really have no choice." She muttered in a low tone "I'm sorry P/N-kun, 'this' and my quest are both not really an easy task so we won't be able to finish these until tomorrow without your help at all.." She said to me in a kind of pleading tone.

"No, don't mind it. I would gladly help, it's my job after all" I simply stated.

"..But Marco-san.. What are you going to do if I happened to not be here at all to help you in the cave?" I asked Marco-san curiously.

"Of course, I'll just simply decline the request. Even if Amaya is really going to Viola today, I can't possibly disturb her just for the stones because the quest that she will be doing are far more important than this" He answered.

I guess me being here is still a good thing in a way... at least.

I noticed that Aya is currently sitting by the stairs alone munching a piece of «Sweet Bun».

"..Wait, how about Aya-chan?" I asked the adults in front of me.

"Of course I would come too!!" Aya answered instead in her usual behaviour.

"Well it's not like we can leave the princess here, right?" Marco-san turned to his daughter and pinched her cheeks, earning a playful scowl from the kid.

It looks like all of us four were leaving for today.

"We will head out this noon, be sure to prepare your items and stuffs because we will be staying there in Viola for tonight" Marco-san said.

"I'll go make some food for dinner there later.." Amaya-san said as she turned back and started walking upstairs.

"Mom can I watch you?" Aya said, stopping her Mom.

"Mm? Of course.. Though, the only thing that you would see is me tapping some stuffs in my window" Amaya-san replied to her daughter jokingly.

They both went upstairs after that.

"P/N, there's still a lot of time, can you come and help me with the materials at the back?" Marco-san said pointing to the «blacksmith room».

"...Oh, and also, lower the tint of the «glass window» so the people would know that were open." He added

"Ok got it."

He turned back and headed inside the «blacksmith room» while I went to the «glass window» to lower it's settings.

After adjusting some options on it's settings, I once again noticed the two Players that was standing outside the shop earlier.. And now, they are both standing on the other side of the paved road looking, and kind of observing the shop from a far..

They've both got startled once again the moment that they noticed that I saw both of them..

And then, they started walking far away after that until the two of them were out of my plain sight.

They're both looked really weak and not very hostile to me, so I don't sense any threatening feeling to them at all.. It's just, the atmosphere around them are so very awkward, and kind of very weird..

"I wonder what's really up with those two.." I muttered to myself.

I just shrugged it off once again as I turned around in order to help Marco-san in the back.

I would also need to prepare some things for our business in Viola Town later.

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Next: Aya's Dream


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